Letitia Plummer, the Democratic nominee for Harris County judge, previously served on Houston City Council and is now campaigning to lead Harris County government.
Plummer’s council service followed a career in dentistry: she owns dental practices in Houston and Pearland. She first ran for Congress in 2018, then won a Houston City Council seat in a 2019 special election. As an at-large member, she represented residents citywide rather than a single council district, a distinction that gave her experience campaigning to voters across Houston. Her professional and political background spans both private practice and municipal office.
The Houston Chronicle reported on Plummer's campaign for Harris County judge while she held a Houston City Council seat. Plummer was an at-large council member.
Plummer entered the Harris County judge race in July 2025, a move that triggered her automatic resignation from council under a state law covering local officials who serve terms longer than two years and want to run for another office before their term ends. She left Houston City Council at the end of 2025. She is now the Democratic nominee facing Republican opponent Orlando Sanchez, a former council member who served on the body from 1996 to 2002.
The resignation requirement has a specific threshold: the Texas Secretary of State says an officeholder covered by the rule automatically resigns after announcing a run for another office if more than one year and 30 days remain in the current term. Houston’s official council agenda records Plummer’s automatic resignation on July 8, 2025, under the state Constitution, and the city later ordered a special election to fill the vacancy. The state’s candidacy guidance distinguishes this rule from other local resign-to-run provisions.
The Harris County Judge Race
Sanchez, a former Houston City Council member, has campaigned for mayor.
Both candidates are making their case to Harris County voters ahead of the November 3, 2026 election, with early voting running from October 19 through October 30, 2026. The race will determine who leads a commissioners court currently headed by Lina Hidalgo, who is not seeking reelection.
The county judge’s job differs from a city council seat in both scale and responsibilities. The judge presides over Commissioners Court, Harris County’s governing body, alongside four commissioners; together they oversee a budget of more than $4 billion for services including justice administration, flood control, public health and housing. The court adopts budgets and tax rates and oversees roads, bridges, courthouses, jails, libraries and parks. Harris County’s description of the office underscores the countywide reach of the post Plummer is seeking.
What the Numbers Mean for a County Judge Bid
Carroll Robinson is a former Houston City Council member and a professor at Texas Southern University.
Rottinghaus also said missing meetings may raise questions about how consistently an elected official fulfills responsibilities, and that Plummer's absences could create a vulnerability for her campaign, potentially indicating less engagement than she implies. The same Chronicle analysis tracked nearly 8,000 motions across 28 commissioners court meetings in 2025 and found that Hidalgo herself missed far more votes than her colleagues on that body.
A Council Absence
Plummer's campaign initially said it was confident most of her absences were related to city business, but later said it could not contextualize individual absences without specific dates and encouraged the Chronicle to request official city secretary records. The campaign said Plummer's constituent work continued beyond City Hall and that she attended votes that shaped Houston, especially during natural disasters.
Plummer was absent for personal business on May 29, 2024.
