Harris County Republicans on Tuesday posted their strongest showing in years, appearing to capture their first countywide race since 2014 and nearly unseating County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

In the end, though, Hidalgo eked out a narrow victory over Republican Alexandra del Moral Mealer, leaving the party all but empty-handed despite massively outspending Democrats and launching an all-out push to reclaim control of Harris County Commissioners Court.....

Even Republicans acknowledged this year could be their last realistic chance, and certainly their best shot in recent years, at winning a county that has seen pronounced demographic shifts over the last couple of decades. Harris County’s population is growing younger and more racially and ethnically diverse, while adding more college-educated residents — groups that all tend to favor Democrats, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston......

In another rematch at the bottom of the ballot, District Clerk Marilyn Burgess, a Democrat, fended off Republican Chris Daniel. County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, a Democrat, also defeated Republican challenger Stan Stanart, her former boss who held the office from 2010 to 2018. Both offices serve largely administrative roles, with the district clerk responsible for summoning jurors and ensuring court records are maintained properly. The county clerk, previously tasked with administering elections, no longer has that responsibility, though Republicans had vowed to scrap the elections administrator position and return to the old system if they regained control of Commissioners Court.