The Harris County Clerk’s Office posted the unofficial May 4 Uniform and Special Elections results on the Harris Votes website early Sunday morning, with 56,612 ballots cast in total. About 2% of Harris County’s eligible registered voters cast a ballot in the May 4 Uniform and Special Elections. Official results will be available after the canvass is completed.
About 3% of the eligible voters residing in Texas Senate District (SD) 15 voted in the May 4 Special Election to fill the vacancy left by Houston Mayor John Whitmire. This is the first time someone other than Whitmire will represent SD 15 in over 40 years. The newly elected Senator will represent SD 15 until the end of the current term, December 31, 2024.
The May 4 election was the first opportunity voters had to cast their ballot for three unpaid positions on the Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) Board of Directors. The HCAD Board of Directors will now consist of three at-large elected members, the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector, and five appointed positions representing local taxing entities. Because only one candidate received an absolute majority of votes in the three HCAD contests, a runoff election will take place on Saturday, June 15, 2024 to determine the winners for HCAD, Director Place 2 and Place 3.
“My job is to ensure accessible and fair elections in Harris County. There are still two more elections before we conduct the November general election,” said Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, the county’s chief election official. “While the upcoming elections will admittedly have a lower turnout than we are bound to see in November, I encourage voters to exercise their privilege to vote in every election.”
The Harris County Clerk’s Office hired approximately 2,100 election workers for the May 4 Uniform and Special Elections. Election workers staffed 25 vote centers during the nine-day early voting period and 151 vote centers on Election Day.
“As always, we are incredibly thankful for the election judges, election workers, and Harris County Clerk’s Office staff who make conducting elections in the largest county in Texas possible,” added Clerk Hudspeth. “It is due to their hard work and dedication that we are able to serve Harris County voters.”
