I had never heard of this woman until my buddy Duke in Houston told me she was retiring (aka not running for reelection), and that they were all pretty thrilled with the news.
Houstonians are celebrating today: the idiot Harris County judge, Lina Hidalgo, has announced she’s not running for a 3rd term. She is bat s**t crazy…
You know, I had to go see what that was about.
An immigrant from Bolivia, Judge Hidalgo was elected a Harris County judge – the third most populated county in the entire country, and includes most of the city of Houston – when she was only 27 years old. She’s been reelected once and was getting ready for a run at a third term when she suddenly changed her mind and announced she was dropping out.
…Ms. Hidalgo rocketed to national attention in 2018 when, as a 27-year-old progressive Democrat and first-time candidate, she defeated a two-term Republican incumbent and took over as the top official in the nation’s third most populous county.
Her victory, her youth and her biography as an immigrant from Colombia gained her immediate prominence among Democrats and talk of an eventual statewide run in Texas, perhaps for governor or the Senate. Her profile appeared to be exactly what the Democratic Party was seeking, a young progressive Latina capable of winning over the state’s increasingly Hispanic voters.
Even as friendly as they are to progressives, the New York Times had some difficulty smoothing over Hidalgo’s reputation for being a pain-in-the-tuchus, noting that there was going to be plenty of Democratic opposition in the primary.
So she was exactly what Dems were seeking until they found out she was…well…let’s simply say volatile.
From what I’m seeing and reading, her interruptions in this example are commonplace during commissioners’ court meetings.
She’s been repeatedly censured and rebuked, even had a law written specifically with her removal in mind, and apparently has had no problems with never once curbing her outbursts.
…“I changed the law this session to make it easier to remove incompetent county judges from office!” State Senator Mayes Middleton, a Republican who sponsored the new law, wrote on social media last month, posting a video of Ms. Hidalgo during a contentious commissioners court meeting in August.
And Ms. Hidalgo could have faced a potentially tough Democratic primary that includes the former mayor of Houston, Annise Parker, who has already declared her candidacy.
.@LinaHidalgoTX announced she is not running for a third term. She has repeatedly clashed with other Democrats on the commissioners court in her second term as Harris County judge and ranks as the least popular county-wide official in recent polling. https://t.co/kgMgVHghk7
— The Texan (@TheTexanNews) September 17, 2025
Hidalgo has also suffered ongoing mental health issues, and they only seem to have exacerbated her performances during the public sessions at the court.
I mean, gracious goodness, there’s just video after video of this performance theater.
And meltdown…
🚨TRAIN-WRECK
Harris County (Houston) Judge Lina Hidalgo calls a BREAK after a complete MELTDOWN at commissioners court proceedings as she DEMANDS higher taxes.Commissioners call each other liars.
For the record, she DID make a motion and forgot?? Receipts below pic.twitter.com/5HmdLGPBEF
— JOSEPH HASHEM TRIMMER (@realkinghashem) August 7, 2025
Of course, anyone mentioning that perhaps this was impacting not only her performance but also adversely affecting the city was nothing but a hater.
Friction between Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Houston Mayor John Whitmire flared up again late last week — this time surrounding whether or not Hidalgo would be running for reelection in 2026 and the alleged reason why.
Last week, in an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Whitmire claimed that Hidalgo was not planning to run for county judge again, suggesting it may be related to her mental health. Hidalgo has been open about her personal struggles with depression while discussing the importance of seeking treatment.
On Saturday, Hidalgo publicly responded to Whitmire’s comments via social media. She criticized Whitmire and said his allusions to her mental health were harmful.
“It’s behind the times to insinuate that a well-managed (mental or physical) medical diagnosis makes someone unfit to lead,” Hidalgo said. “Too many people fail to seek treatment for mental and certain physical conditions out of shame. As leaders, let’s not continue to perpetuate harmful stigmas.”
I hate to break it to her – sometimes it definitely makes you ‘unfit to lead.’
All this drama also makes you wonder if anything else was going on in Houston. Jeez Louise.
The Houston Police Officers’ Union put out a pretty scathing statement after Hidalgo’s announcement.
Houston Police Officers’ union bid Lina Hidalgo a pointed farewell following her late-night announcement Monday that she will not seek a third term as county judge.
“We have the world’s smallest violin here; to play a sad, sad song,” the union wrote on Facebook with the hashtag #HarrisCountyDeservesBetter. The post featured a split-screen screenshot of all the articles announcing her decision not to run for reelection and a solemn headshot of Hidalgo.
Woof. No love lost there.
An unscientific survey of Houston residents seemed to be tilted towards the ‘Oh, thank God she’s out‘ side of the question when asked about Hidalgo’s decision not to run again.
I’m not sure what’s in Houston’s water system – they were famous for keeping Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress, remember – but I guess they’re going to be spared one less character on the ballot come November.
Houston’s shedding some of its woke!
Judge Lina Hidalgo, Harris County chief executive, won’t seek reelection
The progressive Democrat’s upset win at the age of 27 established her as a rising star. But her ascent was stunted in recent years amid clashes with fellow Democrats… pic.twitter.com/zJnkygzPhW
— Kenny G (@Texas4Trump_24) September 16, 2025
…The progressive Democrat’s upset win at the age of 27 established her as a rising star. But her ascent was stunted in recent years amid clashes with fellow Democrats and unwavering GOP scrutiny.
So far, a former mayor of Houston has entered the Democrat primary along with a plethora of others and a good handful of Republicans for their contest.
Things will definitely be heating up.
On the plus side, maybe they’ll finally simmer down.
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