HOUSTON, Texas — Out-of-control crime has been the hallmark of Alex Mealer's campaign against incumbent Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
The Republican challenger contends that Hidalgo has clearly not done enough.
"Lawlessness, public safety, that is the number one priority,” said Mealer.
Mealer has played up out-of-control crime in TV ads despite data that shows a decrease in violent crime after a record-setting 2021.
"If you don’t think there’s a problem with crime, you should probably not vote for me,” said Mealer.
She told us the current administration has failed when it comes to recruiting law enforcement officers. That's something Mealer said she'd do at places like Fort Hood in order to find 1000 new deputies to help combat crime.
Click here to watch some of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's one-on-one interview
"And my complete focus is how do we mobilize the full weight and power of this office to tackle it,” said Mealer.
In addition to cutting crime, Mealer said she plans to slash county overhead by getting rid of administrative offices and departments created under Judge Hidalgo.
Mealer believes that would reduce the likelihood of corruption-related indictments, like Hidalgo’s team has seen.
"It used to cost roughly $8 million, when Ed Emmett was in charge, to kind of administrate the county," said Mealer. "We’ve added over $40 million in just a few years. So that’s just top-level bureaucracy.”
Mealer said she would accept contributions from people who do business with the county, including developers who often have a lot riding on decisions made downtown.
"But almost all of her (Hidalgo's) money comes from donors who don’t live in Harris County or even in the state,” said Mealer.
Mealer’s been criticized for not immediately and emphatically accepting the results of the 2020 presidential election. But she told us she plans to accept the results of her election.
"Yeah, absolutely,” said Mealer.
She said the exception would be any glaring error with which any reasonable person would take issue.
"But I do not think you can just maneuver and delay because you feel like it,” said Mealer.