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Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo are each battling similar but separate controversies involving millions of dollars in government contracts awarded to politically connected individuals.  

The high-stakes drama engulfing the political scene in the nation's fourth-largest city has so far escaped national media coverage.  

Hidalgo has faced intense scrutiny over an $11 million vaccine outreach contract to Elevate Strategies, which is run by Felicity Pereyra, a Democratic political insider with ties to the county commissioners court. Pereyra also worked on Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Pereyra's company was a one-woman operation until recently and only had existed for two years before being awarded the contract.

Pereyra’s company was awarded the contract over UT Health, one of the city’s major hospitals, and the "deciders" for the contract all answered directly to Hidalgo without input from the commissioners' panel.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg's office subpoenaed Hidalgo regarding the contract. When asked about the subpoena, an attorney for Hidalgo told local press, "We have always followed the law, and we continue to follow the law."

"It is grassroots outreach. It's the same kind of outreach you do with political outreach. We are at a point where it is a campaign for people to get vaccinated," Hidalgo said in August in defense of the choice.