City of Houston Final Filings 2013

The final filings are up! Click on the link and you will find your list of individuals who filed for either Houston Mayor, City Controller, or City Council. The Chron has more if you pay, or this handy chart.

Mayor Annise Parker will need to fend off nine opponents. Hopefully, she can be done in Round 1, although, that doesn’t mean we won’t have a run-off election for other races in December if she is done. Also, City Controller Ronald Green will need to fend off one opponent.

Possible Overtime

District D has twelve candidates vying for outgoing Council Member Wanda Adams’ current seat. There is little doubt that this one will end up in overtime. Although there are some good names on the list, my favorite is Christina Sanders (website).

District I seems to have ended up with the four who have been campaigning: Mendez, Gallegos, Garces, and the Republican. This one has the strong possibility of ending up in a run-off. District I is usually considered a low turnout race, which could bode well for a lone right-wing-fringe candidate; however, this time around there is no incumbent to run against, so, if Mendez, Gallegos, and Garces keep putting a good dose of energy into the race, it could just end up being a run-off amongst two of those three. It’s all about turn-out.

At-Large 2 will have four candidates; however, only the incumbent (Andrew Burks) and challenger David Robinson have drawn some attention. While both of these candidates trend more Democratic, the remaining candidates are more representative of the other side of the spectrum. That said, I would say the possibility of a run-off is only slight, if at all.

At-Large 3 is destined for a run-off with six candidates. One other right-winger announced he was dropping out, leaving Dem-leaning candidates Rogene Calvert, Roland Chavez, and Jenifer Rene Pool against anti-Parker Republican Michael Kubosh, right-winger Roy Morales, and a perennial candidate. Who will end up in overtime? My hope is that two of the three Dems will end up in the run-off. But if it is one of them against one of the right-wingers, then it seems there is definitely some competition for the right-wing spot. Morales probably has the most name ID of the two, but Kubosh has more of an ability to purchase some name ID to add to what he has earned from his anti-Parker, anti-red light camera rhetoric. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to decide between the Dem-leaning candidates.

District A is District A, I guess. Four candidates challenge the incumbent, Helena Brown.

The Other Races

In District J, it looks like I get to keep Mike Laster (unopposed). That’s a good thing. District C’s Ellen Cohen, though, drew one opponent, according to the Chron.

Dave Martin, Ed Gonzalez and Larry Green will win Districts E, H and K, respectively–or at least they didn’t get any opponents.

I sure am glad I have a choice in At-Large 5, now that James Horwitz is in the running (a third candidate signed up,too) against Jack Christie, but the final hour filings have At-Large 4’s Brad Bradford earning himself some competition from former HISD Construction Manager Issa Dadoush. Likewise, At-Large 1’s Stephen Costello will need to fend off Griff Griffin to earn another term.

Update:  Campos points to Dadoush listing a Pasadena address. Apparently, he’s registered to vote in Pasadena’s City Council District H, too, according to Harris County. So, is it Congrats, Chief?

Rounding off the City ballot, District B incumbent Jerry Davis drew three opponents, while District F’s Al Hoang and District G’s Oliver Pennington each drew one opponent.

So, hopefully, all of the updates and corrections have been made at this point. From now on, it’s a sprint to the end of Round 1.

Update:  Kuff has more, as done Texpate.