Dallas County
County Judge
Clay Jenkins
Democratic Incumbent- On ballot as
- Clay Jenkins
- Current role
- Dallas County Judge (since 2011; first elected November 2010)
- Background
- Undergraduate and law degrees, Baylor University (per The Dallas Morning News)
- Law school graduation 1987; Texas licence date 1988 (per State Bar)
- Attorney; firm listed as Jenkins & Jenkins PC (per State Bar)
- Former co-owner, Brown Dental Health Services (per Ballotpedia)
- Experience
- Seeking a fifth term (per The Dallas Morning News)
- Chief Elected Official, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas (undated campaign page)
- Chair, Enroll North Texas Coalition (undated campaign page)
- Democratic primary (March 3, 2026): unopposed
- Top priorities
- On the county tax rate, at an Aug. 11, 2026 Commissioners Court meeting: "We've found those savings, so let's only charge what is necessary."
- On funding county construction with certificates of obligation (KERA, Apr. 13, 2026): it "allows that to be done without raising people's taxes in the short or the long term"
- On the county's emergency operations hub (KERA, June 11, 2026): "We're going to be focused on the people who live here"
- Tidbits
- Property taxes and budget: On the county tax rate, at an Aug. 11, 2026 Commissioners Court meeting: "We've found those savings, so let's only charge what is necessary."
- Growth and infrastructure: On funding county construction with certificates of obligation (KERA, Apr. 13, 2026): it "allows that to be done without raising people's taxes in the short or the long term"
- Flooding and drainage: No public statement found
- Public safety: On the county's emergency operations hub (KERA, June 11, 2026): "We're going to be focused on the people who live here"
Claims and the record- 1983 trespass charge: Charged with criminal trespass in 1983 after he and two friends entered female classmates' apartment; received one year of deferred adjudication. A woman said in the police report that the men wore dark makeup "to make them look like Black people". His campaign said he apologized at the time and "has never darkened his face in an attempt to appear as a member of another race."
- 2023 mask-mandate court ruling: The Texas Supreme Court on June 30, 2023 dissolved an injunction he had obtained against the governor's 2021 order barring local mask requirements. His lawyer said the opinion is clear that the governor's decisions prevail.
- Endorsements
- The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
- Campaign website
- jenkinsfordallascounty.com
Open in the full comparison: Dallas County