HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — An expected winner has emerged in the tight race for Harris County district attorney, one of the Houston area’s most closely watched races in the 2024 election.

With 100% of the expected votes reported just after 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, Democrat Sean Teare narrowly emerged ahead with 51% of the vote.

Just over 24,000 votes separated Teare from Republican candidate Dan Simons, who finished with 49% of the vote.

In the March 5 primary election, Teare defeated two-time incumbent prosecutor and former boss Kim Ogg by a nearly 50% margin. He served as a prosecutor for the prosecution for 11 years and was Ogg’s chief prosecutor in the prosecutor’s office’s Vehicle Crimes Section from 2017 to 2023. After the primary, Ogg continued to support Republican Ted Cruz for Senate.

Simons, meanwhile, worked as a Harris County prosecutor and served as an assistant district attorney in 2013 under former Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson.

While Teare is ahead in the race, he talked about his goals Tuesday night.

“I’ve been in that office for 13 years. I’ve handled every type of case they’ve had to handle, from JP traffic tickets to capital murders and everything in between,” Teare said. “I spent the last seven years supervising hundreds of different attorneys, many of whom are still there.”

ABC13 expects to hear from Teare about his win at some point Wednesday. Come back to this post for updates.

Teare will take office in January and replace Ogg after eight years in charge.

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