Lina Maria Hidalgo (born February 19,1991) is an American politician in the state of Texas. She is the county judge of Harris County,the third-most populous county in the United States.[1] Hidalgo is the first woman and the first Latina to be elected to this office. Notwithstanding the label,the position of county judge is for the most part a nonjudicial position in Texas.[2] Hidalgo functions as the county's chief executive and its emergency manager.[3] She oversees a budget of over $4 billion.[4]
Hidalgo was born in Bogota,Colombia,on February 19,1991. Her family left Colombia when she was five years old,and lived in Peru and Mexico City before moving to Houston,Texas when she was 15.[5][1]
That same year,Hidalgo became a U.S. citizen.[6][7][8][9] Upon graduation from Stanford,Hidalgo received the Omidyar Network Postgraduate Fellowship to work with an international organization.[10] She moved to Thailand,where she worked for the Internews Network,an international nonprofit dedicated to training journalists and advocating for press freedom.[7]
Hidalgo ran for County Judge of Harris County in the 2018 elections. She was unopposed in the Democratic Partyprimary election and faced incumbent Ed Emmett in the general election. Hidalgo ran on a platform focused on flood control,criminal justice reform,and increasing transparency and accountability in local government.[15] She defeated Emmett on November 6,becoming the first woman and Latina elected to the office of Harris County Judge. Her victory was considered an upset and attracted national attention,with a large and diverse coalition of activists and organizations leading her to a narrow 19,400-vote victory.[13] The election also switched majority control of Harris County Commissioners Court,over which Hidalgo presides,from Republicans to Democrats.
Hidalgo championed misdemeanor cash bail reform in Harris County.[1][16]
During the COVID-19 pandemic,Hidalgo implemented public health measures early in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus.[1] In March 2020,she ordered the closure of bars and restaurants.[1] In April 2020,Hidalgo required Harris County residents to wear face masks in public.[1] Republicans at the state and federal level strongly criticized her public health measures.[1] Governor Greg Abbott said that local officials could not enforce mask mandates.[1] By June,as cases in Texas climbed,Abbott ordered his own face mask mandate.[1]
Hidalgo has been credited with making voting easier in Harris County during the 2020 Texas elections and with increasing turnout among lower-propensity voters. By October 30,2020 (the Thursday before election day),more votes had been cast in Texas than the entire number cast in the 2016 United States presidential election in Texas.[18]
Hidalgo has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation to stop the expansion of Interstate 45 through Houston. Because of her intervention,the federal government is investigating whether this proposed expansion,which could increase pollution and relocate people,violates any environmental and civil rights laws.[19][20] The County later paused the lawsuit to negotiate with TxDOT.[21]
In March 2021,concerns were raised over a contract awarded to Elevate Strategies,a company that was hired to do COVID-19 vaccine outreach. The company had only one employee and was run out of an apartment in the city. Hidalgo and county commissioners allegedly had ties to Elevate Strategies. Mark Jones of Rice University said,"This was an RFP [request for proposal] that was wired from the very start to go to Elevate Strategies to provide political money for Lina Hidalgo's supporters". Hidalgo responded,"Y’all bring it on! Bring it on! Because there is nothing here." In September 2021,the county terminated the $11 million contract.[23][24] In April 2022,three of Hidalgo's staffers were indicted by the Harris County District Attorney.[25] On November 9,2023,the Texas Rangers issued three more search warrants in the ongoing investigation and the Rangers opened a new public corruption investigation into Hidalgo’s office to locate records they believe were not disclosed,possibly destroyed,in prior investigations.[25]
2022 election
Hidalgo defeated her opponent,Alexandra del Moral Mealer,by a margin of around 18,000 votes out of 1 million votes cast (50.8% to 49.2%).[26][27] Mealer filed a lawsuit in an attempt to overturn the results,but dropped the lawsuit ten months later.[28]
Bilingual constituency relations
Hidalgo was criticized after a March 2019 news conference in which she spoke in English and Spanish about the health implications of a massive chemical fire. She was addressing constituents and reporters from English- and Spanish-language media outlets. A Chambers County commissioner,Mark Tice,posted on social media:"English,this is not Mexico."[29][30] Some critics have also compared Hidalgo to Dora the Explorer.[1][31]
In response,Hidalgo's director of communications issued a statement noting that a third of Harris County residents are Spanish speakers:
Judge Hidalgo represents all of Harris County and given the county's composition and her bilingual skills,she will continue to communicate as broadly as possible especially when public safety is at stake.[30]
NBC News reported that there was "immediate backlash" to Tice's comments;he later published an apology to Hidalgo on Facebook.[30]
Recognition
Hidalgo was featured on the cover of Time in January 2018 alongside dozens of other women who ran for office in one of the biggest elections for women.[32]
Hidalgo was diagnosed with clinical depression in July 2023 and announced a temporary leave of absence to undergo treatment.[36] On September 14 she announced plans to return to office in early October.[37]
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