Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan was the only non-judicial incumbent elected in November. Here’s how his race looked.
Dist Leitner Ryan Leitner% Ryan%
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CD02 158,149 113,363 58.25% 41.75%
CD07 135,129 116,091 53.79% 46.21%
CD09 25,714 106,728 19.42% 80.58%
CD10 80,244 36,703 68.62% 31.38%
CD18 46,062 154,354 22.98% 77.02%
CD29 35,312 93,732 27.36% 72.64%
SBOE6 331,484 269,022 55.20% 44.80%
HD126 34,999 25,571 57.78% 42.22%
HD127 47,719 24,876 65.73% 34.27%
HD128 40,809 17,464 70.03% 29.97%
HD129 41,206 26,677 60.70% 39.30%
HD130 58,268 21,630 72.93% 27.07%
HD131 6,719 39,011 14.69% 85.31%
HD132 37,294 30,571 54.95% 45.05%
HD133 46,509 28,002 62.42% 37.58%
HD134 42,937 44,634 49.03% 50.97%
HD135 31,651 27,468 53.54% 46.46%
HD137 8,661 17,869 32.65% 67.35%
HD138 26,893 23,486 53.38% 46.62%
HD139 11,874 39,721 23.01% 76.99%
HD140 6,316 20,762 23.33% 76.67%
HD141 4,969 32,887 13.13% 86.87%
HD142 10,179 34,249 22.91% 77.09%
HD143 8,745 23,486 27.13% 72.87%
HD144 10,725 16,024 40.09% 59.91%
HD145 10,858 22,921 32.14% 67.86%
HD146 9,532 38,323 19.92% 80.08%
HD147 11,719 45,087 20.63% 79.37%
HD148 17,529 29,206 37.51% 62.49%
HD149 15,405 27,290 36.08% 63.92%
HD150 48,085 26,950 64.08% 35.92%
CC1 70,740 240,579 22.72% 77.28%
CC2 123,739 124,368 49.87% 50.13%
CC3 188,415 160,213 54.04% 45.96%
CC4 206,707 158,990 56.52% 43.48%
Vince Ryan
Ryan is the third-longest tenured non-judicial countywide officeholder, trailing County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez and County Judge Ed Emmett. He just barely missed having the third-highest vote total in 2016, trailing Hillary Clinton, Kim Ogg, and (by 317 votes) judicial candidate Kelli Johnson. The precinct data tells the story you would expect it to tell given this – Ryan won in HD134 and Commissioners Court Precinct 2, and he was generally above the baseline wherever you looked. He had been an above average performer in 2012 and 2008 as well, and he had a successful, no-drama second term.
That may not be the case for his third term, and the people who are most likely to give him heartburn, at least in the early days of 2017, are his fellow Democrats, Sheriff-elect Ed Gonzalez and DA-elect Kim Ogg. I refer of course to the bail practices lawsuit, where Ryan is (via outside counsel) defending the county, which includes the Sheriff’s office, even though Gonzalez doesn’t want to fight the litigation. Ogg is likely to be on Gonzalez’s side when she gets sworn in, which will be a little awkward for Ryan. More awkward is that defending the county’s position doesn’t sit well with the Democratic base. I saw a bit of griping about this on Facebook before the election, but for obvious reasons that got buried under other matters. But it will be a focus of attention when the case gets back on track in January, and if it gets drawn out this is the sort of thing that can generate enmity, and quite possibly a primary challenger in four years.
That’s a long way off, and there’s no reason why the case can’t be settled. Then Ryan can get back to doing the things he really gets energized about, like going after polluters and other public nuisances. If he keeps that up, he ought to be in good position to be an above-average performer again in 2020.