Who’s Moving On To Round 2?

Looks like we will have a pretty busy run-off season from now to December. Some of the busier races for Mayor and City Council will require a run-off election. As of 9:15pm, it seemed that voters would have clear choices between ideological opposites in those races.

Houston and Harris County voters supported the Hospital Bond and the two City propositions. In the City races, here’s how things look as of 6AM.

As expected, in the race for Mayor, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee will be in a run-off with John Whitmire. SJL earned almost 80% of the vote in Fort Bend County, but can she overcome a big gap in Houston? Predictions from local experts say it will be a nasty race. But while the Mayoral race will be the big draw, there will be enough run-offs in our various districts and at-large posts to add to peoples’ interest.

In At-Large 1, Melanie Miles was assisted by Fort Bend to be the top vote-getter but will be in a run-off with republican Julian Ramirez. In At-Large 2, republican-supported pastor Willie Davis will be in a run-off with Nick Hellyar. DC has supported Hellyar in the past. At-Large 3, Richard Cantu bested Twila Carter by thousands of votes, but will be heading to the run-off. In At-Large 4, incumbent Letitia Plummer came close to an outright win, but will now need to beat a republinut piece of furniture. And in At-Large 5, incumbent Sallie Alcorn cruised to a second term. ‘

In the race for City Controller, Chris Hollins went as high as 48% in Houston before coming down to 44%. The Fort Bend numbers added a bit but were not enough to avoid a run-off with perennial loser republinut Orlando Sanchez, who took the wind out of Dave Martin’s more bipartisan, yet still republican, sails.

In District B, Tarsha Jackson was re-elected overwhelmingly. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz of District D will be in a run-off with Travis McGee. One run-off I did not want was the one in District G between two republicans whose base I’d rather they stay home. In District H, Mario Castillo and Cynthia Reyes Revilla will face off. All other district reps were easily re-elected.

And in District I, big congrats to Joaquin Martinez on a big win. I’ve been following Joaquin’s path for a while and there is no doubt in my mind that he will serve with the people in mind.

And a thought on District J: This should have been a better challenge of an overfunded incumbent with other aspirations who cannot seem to excite the voters in this district to show up on election day. There’s always 2027 when the incumbent is term-limited.

Overall, I agree with Kuff’s assessment and hope that republicans have reached their ceiling, though, enough of them can and will put Whitmire in office which explains my concern about turnout in District G.

Still, I have some worry regarding some of these races and how demographics can win the day for the wrong people. More on that as we move forward…quickly. Otherwise, it seems our County Clerk ran the election well with only a few technical problems. I expect things to be even better for the run-off.

Oh, and Congrats to Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia on their big wins for the good side.