CHRIS MORAN, HOUSTON CHRONICLE |
November 2, 2010

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett is interviewed by the media after casting his vote along with other voters from precinct 15 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on election day in Houston.

Photo By Julio Cortez/Houston Chronicle

Andi Morman shows her support for her husband, Jack Morman, who appeared Tuesday night to be on his way to victory over Commissioner Sylvia Garcia.

Jack Morman, a political neophyte who was outspent by more than 40-to-1 in his race against Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, became the first challenger to unseat an incumbent Harris County commissioner in 36 years.

With all votes tallied, Morman emerged with 50.9 percent of the votes, and early Wednesday, Garcia conceded.

"Thank you everyone for your votes & your support. We worked hard. We did everything we could. But in the end, its up to the voters & they have spoken. . . . I love this job; its been a great 8 years. We now move forward to the challenges ahead. Thank you & God bless."

Morman's possible ascension to one of the county's most powerful jobs would be part of what was shaping up to be a Republican sweep of seven county administrative offices on Tuesday's ballot, early election returns showed, though many votes remained uncounted late into the night.

"People are tired and fed up. I think people are ready for a change. They're tired of incumbents," Morman said during a phone interview from his mother-in-law's house. He said that if the lead held up, he would attribute his victory to his message of fiscal conservatism and his support of immigration status checks on county jail inmates, which Garcia voted against last year.

Garcia would not comment.

"This is historic," Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill said of Morman's early showing. "This speaks volumes to the anti-Obama sentiment that the entire nation is seeing. The country at all levels, whether it be the national, the state or the local level is saying, 'Enough is enough.' And they put a restraining order on the era of big government, and that's impacting Sylvia Garcia. Sylvia Garcia and Barack Obama are inextricably intertwined."

"It has to do with the overall momentum of the Republican Party. It's no one individual effort. It was all the judges, it was the state representatives and other down ballot races pushing the conservative message countywide," Daniel said.

Jackson said he got swept up in the national backlash against Democrats.

"People voted today based on political inclination instead of evaluating people," Jackson said.

County Judge Ed Emmett, a Republican, declared victory over Democrat Gordon Quan shortly after he received the early vote results. Emmett's victory gives him his first full term as the presiding officer of Commissioners Court and the de facto face of county government.

Emmett said now his tasks are to address Harris County's infrastructure needs, its mental health crisis and its tight budget.

"I'm thrilled by the victory, but I recognize what's ahead of us," he said.

Quan conceded by 10:30 p.m. "I was outspent 10-to-1," he said. "But even if I'd spent a half-million dollars, when you look at what was happening statewide and nationally — it wouldn't have made a difference. It just wasn't the time for Democrats."

Republican Stan Stanart led convincingly in an open race for county clerk, as did Republican Don Sumners in the open race for tax assessor-collector.

Garcia was seeking her third term on Commissioners Court. As of Oct. 22 she had spent more than three-quarters-of-a-million dollars since July 1 and campaigned diligently on her record of bringing park-and-rides, parks, health clinics and better roads to the eastern county's Precinct 2. Morman continued to work his day job as an attorney and campaigned between work assignments.

Morman associated Garcia by virtue of her party affiliation with President Barack Obama's offshore drilling moratorium and his proposed NASA cuts that could have cost thousands of Precinct 2 jobs at the Johnson Space Center. Garcia actually opposed both policies.

Garcia had billboards, television ads, a sophisticated website and social media component and campaign offices throughout the precinct. She also had the power of incumbency to use in opening a new courthouse annex and a dog park in the weeks before the election.

Morman, who spent less than $20,000 on the race, did not even have a campaign manager and spent Tuesday morning in court working before doing last-minute campaigning. Nonetheless, he said, he always thought he had a chance.

"I don't get into anything to lose. I of course knew it was going to be an uphill battle, that she was going to have tons of money that I was never going to be able to compete with," Morman said.