2023 Houston Mayoral Election

[MargieCat]

I think Sheila Jackson Lee can defeat a republican.

If it's her vs. Whitmire, she will have a more difficult time.

Apparently, Buzbee is considering getting in. He says he thinks he is the only one that can defeat SJL. When in actuality, he would help her win.

I expect that she would consolidate that Black vote. Whitmire is hoping to win the conservative white vote, like Rick Caruso and Paul Vallas. He's been endorsed by Tilman Fertitta, Dan Huberty, Greg Travis, Mattress Mac, the Houston Police Officer's Union, as well as some mainstream Democrats.

I see most party-line republicans having a difficult time voting for a Democrat. I find it hard to believe that the Harris County GOP will endorse Whitmire. I think they run their own person and hand it to SJL.

[MargieCat]

Hollins is out.

I wonder if Amanda Edwards drops out next.
https://twitter.com/HoustonChron/status/1644093892818608130?s=20

[MargieCat]

I think it depends who gets into the top two.

I see Sheila Jackson Lee getting to the runoff.

The question is whether an actual Republican gets in and consolidates conservative support.

I see it being a tossup if it's SJL vs. Whitmire.

If it's a SJL vs. Republican, then she is favored to win easily.

I can't predict how repubilcan voters will behave if it's a Dem vs. Dem matchup. I would suspect they choose Whitmire, but they might just not vote. I find it unlikely that the Harris County GOP sits this one out, even though it seems like some prominent republicans are supporting Whitmire.

[MargieCat]

It’s still Whitmire’s race to lose at this rate, Sheila Jackson Lee while formidable, I think she gets clobbered by him.

He doesn't really have a base of support.

He's courting GOP voters, who will likely have their own candidate to vote for. His best hope is a republican not running.

[MargieCat]

I guess people don’t want a mayor whose 73

Both Sheila Jackson Lee and John Whitmire are 73.

He's older than her by a couple of months.

[MargieCat]

https://twitter.com/HoustonChron/status/1689407217118679042

[MargieCat]

Not sure who wins since I'm not following this race, but of the three poll options, I'd probably support Edwards by process of elimination, unless she's just an absolutely horrible candidate.

Sheila Jackson Lee is notorious for mistreating her staff and continually goes through staff changes. When your employees keep quitting, the problem is probably you, not them. Confirming this, she's repeatedly been won the superlative of "Meanest" in Washingtonian surveys where congressional staffers are polled -- and in landslides.

As for John Whitmire, there are a number of complaints about him. Back during the notorious 2003 mid-decade redistricting by the TXGOP, Senate Democrats fled the state to avoid quorum. It was Whitmire who ultimately cracked and gave Senate Republicans the quorum they needed to proceed. Still, inevitably they were all going to have to return to Texas, so that's a minor gripe. Secondly, he has the level of empathy and nuance you'd expect from a Republican on certain things (perhaps he's the opposite of "compassionate conservative" GWB in that sense) -

In 2021, Whitmire stirred controversy by responding to questions about the lack of air conditioning in prisons by saying: “You know, we can talk about this all day, it’s not gonna change. The prisons are hot. They’re uncomfortable. And the real solution is, don’t commit a crime and you stay at home and be cool. We’re not gonna air condition them. One, we don’t want to. Number two, we couldn’t afford it if we wanted to.” Whitmire's quote was featured the following month on a segment on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver criticizing Texas for not air conditioning its prisons, exacerbating medical conditions and even causing the deaths of some prisoners. Heat has killed numerous prisoners and cost Texas taxpayers millions of dollars in wrongful death suits brought by victims' families.

(Source: Wikipedia)

She dropped out awhile ago. She endorsed Sheila Jackson Lee and is in fact running for her congressional seat.

The other Democrats are Robert Gallegos, Gilbert Garcia, and Lee Kaplan. Robin Williams, a forth Democrat, was arrested for domestic violence