Making Her Mark

Texas’s 32-year-old Judge Lina Hidalgo could be the most powerful Democrat you’ve never heard of. Emma Specter travels to Houston to meet the party’s rising star.

- Emma Specter

GAVEL TIME

As Harris County judge, Lina Hidalgo oversees a multi-billion dollar budget in the resiliently red state of Texas.

Sittings Editor: Stella Greenspan.

Lina Hidalgo had just touched down in Vancouver when she got the call from one of her staffers; the National Weather Service had issued a warning about a “large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly” tornado heading toward Houston. The damage was expected to be severe. As soon as Hidalgo’s connection to Houston landed, could she head straight to the affected area? She could and did, surveying the downed power lines and near-devastated homes—roofs ripped clean off, debris choking grassy yards and untended corners. She signed a disaster declaration and coordinated with local nonprofits to offer insurance aid to those affected, including undocumented families—“I was briefed during my layover, and I was immediately like, ‘I need to talk to the community,’ ” she says.

Two of the towns hit hardest by the tornado happened to have Republican mayors, and Hidalgo reached out to both so that they could comfort constituents together. “We agreed to meet in one of our most affected areas,” says Jeff Wagner, the Republican mayor of Pasadena, a municipality just southeast of Houston. “As we walked through the neighborhood, crews were already hard at work picking up the debris in front of people’s homes. I expressed to her how important a quick response was and she agreed, and offered to send county cleanup crews to assist.”