Fort Bend County Voters Have Full Confidence In Their County Election Officials
The Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University has released a new report, Fort Bend County 2026: Voting Intentions & Public Opinion in Texas’s Most Diverse County, based on a survey of 1,200 likely voters in Fort Bend County. Fort Bend County, with a population of almost 1 million, is the most diverse county in Texas, and one of the most diverse counties in the United States. The ethnic/racial distribution of the county population is 29% White, 25% Latino, 22% Asian American and 20% Black, with 4% identifying with another ethnic/racial group or having a multiracial identity.
The report found that while a majority of Fort Bend County voters (53%) are not confident that the November 2026 elections in the United States will be conducted fairly and accurately, an overwhelming majority (80%) are confident that elections will be conducted fairly and accurately in Fort Bend County. This bipartisan consensus (81% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans share this confidence) is also reflected in these voters’ confidence in the ability of Fort Bend County election officials to carry out tasks this fall such as counting votes accurately (81%), keeping voting machines and election systems secure (80%), and making sure all eligible voters are able to cast a ballot (79%)
In the marquee county level race for the position of county judge (county executive) of Fort Bend County, Democrat Dexter McCoy (49%) leads Republican Daniel Wong (40%) by 9 percentage points, with 11% of likely voters still unsure for whom they will vote in this contest. Only around half of Fort Bend County voters know enough about McCoy (48%) and Wong (54%) to have an opinion of them, with 31% having a favorable and 17% an unfavorable opinion of McCoy, and 26% having a favorable and 28% an unfavorable opinion of Wong.
Dr. Michael O. Adams, Founding Director of Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center, noted that “this year Fort Bend County voters are favoring Democratic statewide candidates by larger margins than in the recent past, with, for instance, Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race by 18 percent, while as recently as the 2024 U.S. Senate race Democrat Colin Allred only bested Republican Ted Cruz by 8 percent in the county”.
In other statewide races, Democrat Gina Hinojosa leads Republican Greg Abbott in the Texas gubernatorial race by 11% among Fort Bend County voters, who, four years ago backed Democrat Beto O’Rourke by a margin of 4% in his unsuccessful bid to prevent Abbott from winning a third term.
In the race for Texas Railroad Commissioner, Democrat Jon Rosenthal holds a 15% advantage over Republican Bo French, in a contest where more than one in ten likely voters remains undecided. Texans of South Asian national origin account for approximately 6% of likely voters in Fort Bend County, and they prefer Rosenthal over French by a 73% to 12% margin.
The survey upon which this report is based was fielded between September 29 and October 2 2026, in both English and Spanish, and has a margin of error of +/- 2.83%.
