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Updated at 9:35 a.m. March 3
With all Harris County voting precincts reporting as of March 3, it is confirmed Lesley Briones and Benjamin Chou will be vying for the Democratic nomination for Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner in May.
Briones finished the primary election with 33.26% of the vote, or 9,290 votes, while Chou received 24.58%, or 6,867 votes, according to the Harris County Elections Administrator website. Since neither candidate earned at least 50% of votes, the two will compete in a runoff election on May 24.
Briones recently resigned from her position as judge for the Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4 to run for commissioner, but she is serving in the position until county leaders find a replacement. She is bilingual and bicultural, according to her campaign website—a native Texan who grew up along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I am energized by the election results and am very grateful for the support we received," Briones said in a March 2 email statement. "These are important decisions, and I look forward to sharing my experience and plans for a healthier, safer, thriving Harris County.”
Chou, a lawyer, would be the first Asian American and openly LGBTQ community member to serve on the Harris County Commissioners Court, should he win the runoff, according to a March 2 news release from Chou. He grew up in Houston after his parents immigrated from Taiwan, according to his campaign website.
"I am thrilled with the first-round primary results," Chou said in the statement. "In a field with seven highly qualified and experienced candidates, I, a first-time candidate, and my team, outperformed expectations."
The winner of the May runoff election will face Republican incumbent Jack Cagle during the general election in November.
The five other Democratic candidates who ran in the March primary election were Clarence Miller, Gina Calanni, Ann Williams, Sandra Pelmore and Jeff Stauber.
Updated at 4:50 p.m. March 2
Lesley Briones and Benjamin Chou will likely be facing off in May for the Democratic nomination for Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner, as 98% of Harris County polling precincts have reported their voting numbers as of March 2.
With 366 of 375 polling precincts reporting, Briones earned 33.21% of the vote, or 9,218 votes, while Chou scored 24.60% of votes, or 6,829 votes.
Briones recently resigned from her position as judge for the Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4 to run for commissioner, but she is serving in the position until county leaders find a replacement. She has not yet responded to request for comment on the result of the election.
Chou, a lawyer, would be the first Asian American and openly LGBTQ community member to serve on the Harris County Commissioners Court, should he win the runoff, according to a March 2 news release from Chou.
"I am thrilled with the first-round primary results," Chou said in the statement. "In a field with seven highly qualified and experienced candidates, I, a first-time candidate, and my team, outperformed expectations."
The other five candidates–Ann Williams, Clarence Miller, Gina Calanni, Sandra Pelmore and Jeff Stauber–collected 3,854 votes, 3,128 votes, 2,529 votes, 1,576 votes and 626 votes, respectively.
Election day for the primary runoff will be May 24. The winner of the runoff will face Republican incumbent Jack Cagle in the November general election.
All election results are unofficial until canvassed.
Updated at 7:40 a.m. March 2
With 200 of 750 Harris County polling precincts reporting, Lesley Briones and Benjamin Chou retain the top two spots in the race for the Democratic nomination for Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner.
Briones commands 34.17% of votes counted so far, or 8,034 votes, while Chou earned 24.23%, or 5,698, according to the Harris County elections administrator website. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote, the candidates with the two most votes will head to a runoff.
The other candidates have garnered a combined total of 41.6% of votes; Ann Williams with 3,283 votes, Clarence Miller with 2,601, Gina Calanni with 2,096, Sandra Pelmore with 1,282 and Jeff Stauber with 521.
All election results are unofficial until canvassed.
Updated at 10:45 p.m. March 1
Lesley Briones and Benjamin Chou have maintained their positions as the top two vote-getters for the Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner Democratic nomination with only six Harris County polling locations reporting as of 10:45 p.m. March 1.
However, early voting counts were included in the calculations, and Briones earned 35.63% of the votes counted so far, or 5,647 votes, while Chou racked up 23.32%, or 3,696 votes.
Voting counts for the five other candidates were 2,251 for Ann Williams, 1,790 for Clarence Miller, 1,312 for Gina Calanni, 832 for Sandra Pelmore and 321 for Jeff Stauber.
All election results are unofficial until canvassed.
Posted at 8:26 p.m. March 1
In the Democratic primary for the Harris County Precinct 4 commissioner position, Lesley Briones takes an early lead, grabbing more than one third of early votes as of March 1, according to the Harris County elections administrator website.
Briones earned 35.63% of early votes, with zero polling locations reporting election day results. The next highest vote holder is Benjamin “Ben” Chou at 23.28%. If no candidate receives 50% of the vote, the candidates with the two most votes will head to a runoff.
Briones–who resigned from her position as judge for the Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4 to run for commissioner but is serving in the position until county leaders find a replacement–holds 5,604 votes. Chou, a lawyer, has 3,661 early voting ballots.
Other early vote totals for the Democratic candidates are Ann Williams at 2,236, Clarence Miller at 1,780 votes, Gina Calanni at 1,302, Sandra Pelmore at 825 and Jeff Stauber at 319.
Seven total Democrats are vying for the Precinct 4 commissioner position. The winner of the Democratic primary will ultimately face off against Republican incumbent Jack Cagle in November.
Cagle ran unopposed in the 2022 Republican primary.
It is unclear if voting results on Harris County's elections website represent all early votes cast. The secretary of state’s office reported Harris County would not be able to count and report all primary election votes by the March 2 deadline due to damage to physical ballot sheets.
All election results are unofficial until canvassed.
