Lina Hidalgo

Lina Maria Hidalgo (born February 19, 1991) is an American politician in the state of Texas. She is the county judge for Harris County, the third-most populous county in the United States. She is the first woman and the first Latina to be elected to this role, a nonjudicial position that functions as the county's chief executive and oversees a budget of over $4 billion.<ref name="NYT 2018/11/08"></ref>
Early life and career.
Hidalgo was born in Bogota, Colombia, on February 19, 1991. Her family left Colombia when she was five years old, and lived in Peru and Mexico City before moving to Houston, Texas, when she was 15.
Hidalgo graduated from Seven Lakes High School in Greater Katy, Texas, and then attended Stanford University, graduating with a degree in political science in 2013. Her honors thesis was titled, "Tiananmen or Tahrir? A Comparative Study of Military Intervention Against Popular Protest."
That same year, Hidalgo became a U.S. citizen. Upon graduation from Stanford, Hidalgo received the Omidyar Network Postgraduate Fellowship to work with an international organization. She moved to Thailand, where she worked for the Internews Network, an international nonprofit dedicated to training journalists and advocating for press freedom. 
After returning to the U.S., Hidalgo worked as a medical interpreter at the Texas Medical Center in Houston and volunteered for the Texas Civil Rights Project. During this time, she was accepted into the Master's/Juris Doctor Joint Program in law and public policy at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and New York University School of Law. Though Hidalgo originally planned to pursue a career in health care and criminal justice, the 2016 election inspired her to put her degree on hold and run for public office instead.
County Judge of Harris County.
2018 election.
Hidalgo ran for County Judge of Harris County in the 2018 elections. She ran unopposed in the Democratic Party primary election and faced incumbent Ed Emmett in the general election. Hidalgo ran on a platform focused on flood control, criminal justice reform, and increasing transparency and accountability in local government. She defeated Emmett on November 6, becoming the first woman and Latina elected Harris County Judge. Her victory was considered an upset and attracted national attention, with a large and diverse coalition of activists and organizations leading her to a nearly 19,000-vote victory.
Tenure.
Hidalgo championed cash bail reform in Harris County.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hidalgo implemented public health measures early to halt the spread of the coronavirus. In March 2020, she ordered the closure of bars and restaurants. In April 2020, Hidalgo required Harris County members to wear face masks in public. Republicans at the state and federal level strongly criticized her public health measures. Governor Greg Abbott said that local officials could not enforce mask mandates. By June, as cases in Texas climbed, Abbott ordered his own face mask mandate.
Hidalgo appeared in video montages during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Hidalgo has been credited with making voting easier in Harris County during the 2020 Texas elections and with increasing turnout among lower-propensity voters. By October 30, 2020 (the Thursday before election day), more votes had been cast in Texas than the entire number cast in the 2016 United States presidential election in Texas.
Recognition.
Hidalgo was featured on the cover of "Time" in January 2018 alongside dozens of other women who ran for office in one of the biggest elections for women.
Hidalgo was criticized after a March 2019 news conference in which she spoke in English and Spanish about the health implications of a massive chemical fire. She was addressing constituents and reporters from English- and Spanish-language media outlets. A Chambers County commissioner posted a negative comment on social media: “English, this is not Mexico.”<ref name="TT 2019/03/27"></ref> Her director of communications issued a statement noting that a third of Harris County residents are Spanish speakers: "Judge Hidalgo represents all of Harris County and given the county's composition and her bilingual skills, she will continue to communicate as broadly as possible especially when public safety is at stake."<ref name="NBC 2019/03/27"></ref>
In December 2019, Hidalgo was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 in Law and Policy.