HARRIS COUNTY – Former Harris County Judge candidate Alexandra del Moral Mealer said she will contest last November’s election results following her loss to incumbent Lina Hidalgo.
Mealer announced her decision late Thursday via a statement posted on Twitter.
“After careful review and analysis of the facts available, I have decided to file an election contest,” she wrote. “Every Harris County voter should be deeply concerned about voter suppression and welcome full transparency to ensure free and fair elections.”
This comes two months after she lost her bid to unseat Lina Hidalgo in November of 2022. According to the latest results posted on the Harris County Elections Administrator’s Office, Hidalgo won the candidacy for Harris County Judge by 18,000 votes.
Hidalgo is currently on a leave of absence.
You can read the full statement from Mealer below:
After careful review and analysis of the facts available, I have decided to file an election contest.
— Alexandra del Moral Mealer (@alexmealer) January 6, 2023
Every Harris County voter should be deeply concerned about voter suppression and welcome full transparency to ensure free and fair elections. pic.twitter.com/VIwEkVpBEi
“After reviewing all publicly available data, I have decided to file an election contest in light of the post-election assessment submitted by Harris County Election Administrator Clifford Tatum. It is inexcusable that after two months, the public is no further along in knowing if, and to an extent, votes are suppressed. Far from being a “success,” as the report characterizes, there were serious operational issues that occurred throughout Election Day that call into question whether the county’s failures denied voters their right to vote. The report cumulates with the ultimate “dog ate my homework” excuse of the World Series parade being responsible for delayed openings and fails to solidify the number of polling stations that suffered from ballot paper shortages. Unlike those holding office, I do not have the weight of government behind me to investigate the matters with the gravity and effort that reports of voter suppression justify but I do have the ability to exercise my legal rights as a candidate. My decision to file an election contest is fundamentally about protecting the right to vote in free and fair elections. There aren’t a lot of things that Lina Hidalgo and I agree on, but surely, we can both agree that it is un-American to suppress votes.”
Harris County Attorney Christian Menifee responds to Mealer’s decision with a statement released on Friday morning, calling Mealer’s decision a “shameful attempt.”
This is a shameful attempt by a group of losing candidates who couldn’t win the hearts and minds of Harris County voters and are now throwing nonsensical legal theories at the wall to see what sticks. Each of them should be deeply embarrassed and these claims should not be taken seriously by the public. These losing candidates are finally laying bare what we all know to be true – for them, it’s not about improving elections or making sure our elections are secure, it’s about playing games with our democratic systems and refusing to accept the will of the voters. These election contests are frivolous attempts to overturn the votes of more than a million residents in the third-largest county in the country. The county will now have to spend substantial resources handling these contests, time that could instead be spent serving the people of Harris County. Voters have moved on. Public servants have moved on. These losing candidates should move on too.”
KPRC 2 has reached out to Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s Office for comment.