Looking at COH At-Large 1 and Latinos

After a break these last few weeks, my attention has returned to the City of Houston elections. Thankfully, we have Kuff bringing us interviews of candidates in the various races. No doubt, the busiest races are those for City Council At-Large positions, and At-Large 1 is quite busy.

As I mentioned before, two At-Large 1 candidates who grabbed my attention–mostly because of their social media presence and signage, are Leah Wolfthal and Melanie Miles. They are also the only two who responded to Kuff.

Melanie Miles is a family law attorney. Check out her interview here.

Leah Wolfthal comes from the non-profit community. Check out her interview here.

More election stuff.

Where Are the Latinos?

Local election data guru, Hector de Leon, provided a snapshot of registered Latin@ voters in Houston. He tells us what I’ve been talking about for years–we are everywhere! (Thanks for the numbers, Hector!)

Latinos (Spanish-surnamed voters) make up 24% of the almost 1.2 million COH voters, while Anglos make up 35%, Black voters make up 32% and the Asian community 5%.

What really got my attention was that Latino opportunity districts seem to be struggling. District I in the East End has the highest concentration with 56%, while District H comes in 2nd with 48%. (We should have more conversations about Latinos getting priced out of their neighborhoods!) After that, Districts A and J come in at 28%. My own District F is at 23% and my old District E is at 22%.

Again, we are everywhere, and it is making it harder to get some district representation. At least without any coalition building. But there seems to be more opportunity for At-Large seats if Latinos build coalitions. Or, if we are included in those coalitions.

In At-Large 2 we have Holly Flynn Vilaseca and in At-Large 3 we have Richard Cantu who are running strong campaigns beyond the usual Latino communities. Both have also exhibited that they can win beyond the usual boundaries, too. So, I have a lot of hope that we will have beyond the two District seats we will win in 2023.

Of course, this is viewed from the Latino point-of-view of winning seats. But what are non-Latino candidates doing to get our vote? Again, we are everywhere, and candidates shouldn’t be waiting until after the first round of voting to beg for the few votes needed to win a run-off. Engagement increases turn-out, which already could be affected by anti-democratic republican policies.

Thus far, one group endorsing Sheila Jackson Lee for Mayor has knocked on my apartment door. And I’m very appreciative of that. I’m pretty sure campaigns with money will begin their mail campaigns. Perhaps a couple will have TV ads. I’m listening.