Both sides rest in trial to decide to throw out Harris County election results

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Both sides rested on Thursday afternoon in a trial that will decide whether to throw out election results from Harris County's 2022 November election.

The judge said he would not have a ruling for at least another month. It's an unprecedented legal effort, and it's the first of several lawsuits just like it.

Republican district judge candidate Erin Lunceford has sued her opponent, Democrat Tami Craft, who she lost to by about 2,700 votes in the November election.

This trial started on Aug. 1.

Lunceford is demanding a new county-wide election, claiming there were many problems with the election, including 29 polling places running out of ballot paper.

Democrats have said there's no proof those problems impacted the election.

This case also has a narrower margin than any of the other contested elections, so its verdict could play a big role in whether others go forward.

"Really, at the end of the day, the main goal for Republicans here is to win the court of public opinion, not in the court of law," Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said. "They know they're going to lose these cases in the court of law, but if they can maintain at least among Republican primary voters and others the narrative that there was something that went wrong in the 2022 elections and that potentially cost Republicans electoral contest, it'll be a winning gambit for them."

This comes as Harris County elections are facing a lot of scrutiny.

Back in May, state legislators voted to get rid of the county's elections administrator position and allow state oversight of elections. And in July, Harris County officially sued to state to block those laws.

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