HOUSTON — The new Harris County Elections Administrator was appointed by the elections commission Tuesday, making him one step closer to officially starting his new role.
It’s been four months since Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria submitted her resignation, following issues and complaints with the 2022 Primary Elections.
Clifford Tatum was selected as her replacement and appointed Tuesday in a 4-to-1 vote.
“I think everything points to a direction that he will be a successful leader," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.
Chair of the Republican Party Cindy Siegel was the one vote against his approval.
“I’m just wanting to avoid what we had before which was the fiasco we had back in March," Siegel said.
Siegel says an article was recently released about an election Tatum oversaw, which she says brought her concern.
“Long ballots, machines not working, people’s ballots not programmed correctly," Siegel said.
But Hidalgo says before Tuesday, the process of hiring Tatum had been bi-partisan.
“It’s disappointing, disheartening but unfortunately not surprising," Hidalgo said.
Chair of the Democratic Party Odus Evbagharu says Tatum is highly qualified.
“He comes with a wealth of experience, coming from Georgia, coming from Washington D.C. He’s got a law degree too, and that’s going to help out. And the numerous boards he’s sat on. That’s going to help out Harris County tremendously," Evbagharu said.
“He’s on paper, and from having met him a stellar candidate, and now as I said, we will see how he performs," Hidalgo said.
Tatum still has to be accepted by County Commissioners, which is scheduled to happen next week.