NEW POLL: Houston Voters Oppose Kim Ogg’s Regressive Agenda
Here’s a fact you might not know about Houston, Texas: It’s the fourth most populous city in the entire country (Chicago narrowly edges it out at third). But Houston’s 2.5 million residents comprise only about half of the total population of Harris County, which is the third most populous county in the country.
TL;DR: Houston is a big deal.
Now, if your mental map of Texas is that it is deep red except for bright blue Austin (Hey, we are looking at you New Yorkers and Californians), then you might be surprised to know that Houston and Harris County consistently votes for Democrats in city, county, state, and federal elections.
In other words, Houston is a big deal and it’s a progressive place.
So, it isn’t too surprising to know that Harris County has successfully implemented bail reform, created a new community violence intervention program, and created a new division of behavioral health experts that will respond to calls for service related to mental illness and homelessness.
What is surprising is the rhetoric and behavior of Kim Ogg, Harris County’s District Attorney, a person who ran as a “reformer” and toured the country her first two years in office lecturing the uninitiated on what it means to be a “21st century prosecutor.”
Because this is a newsletter and not a book, here are just a few data points that illustrate Ogg’s long and unfortunate record as top prosecutor in Harris County:
Ogg opposed bail reform measures adopted by the Harris County Commissioners Court and endorsed by the Harris County Sheriff. She has called bail reform “a driving factor in the crime crisis gripping our community.”
Ogg continues to lobby the Harris County Commissioners Court for more prosecutors, at one point asking for as many as 102 more at an annual cost of as much as $20 million dollars. Ogg “needs” more prosecutors because her office prosecutes tens of thousands of low level cases that do not involve any risk to public safety, even though other offices across the country routinely decline to prosecute these kinds of cases.
Dozens of elected prosecutors (and some police chiefs) from across the country, including five prosecutors from Texas, signed an open letter urging President Joe Biden to halt federal executions. But Kim Ogg didn’t join her colleagues on the letter. That might be because Ogg continues to seek executions in Texas, including for a man who “cannot name everyday objects and has an IQ of 70.”
To get a sense of whether voters in Harris County support Kim Ogg and her agenda, City Watch conducted a survey of 433 likely voters in Harris County using the Data For Progress infrastructure. The sample is weighted by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The margin of error is +/- 5 percentage points.
RESULTS:
Kim Ogg is the least popular Harris County elected official.
Under Kim Ogg’s leadership, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office is the least popular of the three major governmental agencies in the county.
Despite Kim Ogg’s multi-year lobbying and media campaign for more money to hire additional prosecutors, Harris County voters prioritize hiring more prosecutors LAST among competing funding priorities.
Despite vocal opposition from District Attorney Kim Ogg, most Harris County voters support not requiring cash bail for non-violent offenses (Net Support +19)
There are two recent Harris County bail reform reports with competing findings: one from federal court appointed independent monitors and one from Kim Ogg. By 11 percentage points, Harris County voters say the independent monitors’ report is more credible than District Attorney Kim Ogg’s report.
CONCLUSION:
When it comes to Houston media, District Attorney Kim Ogg is often the loudest voice in the room. Her style, which is to point fingers and to fear-monger, is calibrated to garner headlines and put local leaders who oppose her policy priorities on their heels.
Yet, the loudest, most saber-rattling voice is not always the one aligned with voter preferences.
That’s the case here: Our results show that Harris County voters lack enthusiasm both for Kim Ogg and for her regressive agenda.
