John Whitmire elected Houston mayor in race he dominated from start to finish

State Sen. John Whitmire was elected Houston’s 63rd mayor in a landslide Saturday night, prevailing over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee by about 30 percentage points in a race he dominated from start to finish.

Whitmire opened up a massive lead, 64% to 36%, with the early vote tallied and 20.2% of polling locations reporting. Just under two-thirds of all votes in this year’s runoff were cast during early voting, according to Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth.

Whitmire, 74, has represented Houston in the Texas Legislature for 50 years, making a name for himself crafting the state’s criminal justice laws in the 1990s. He began his mayoral run in November 2021, campaigning on a promise to be “tough and smart” on crime and warning that nothing else matters if City Hall cannot tackle public safety. 

“Great cities solve their problems. They bring people together. Our campaign united this city,” Whitmire said at his victory party at George R. Brown Convention Center. “Tonight I’m smiling. And I’m smiling for the city of Houston. I want you to smile because tonight is something to smile about.”

Jackson Lee, 73, announced her mayoral campaign in March, immediately scrambling the political dynamics of the contest. She campaigned as an aggressive problem solver focused on city services, hitting Whitmire for his Republican donors and moderate positions in the Legislature. But she apparently was dragged down by negative views among conservative and independent voters.

The congresswoman congratulated Whitmire and committed to working with him.

“Our work is not completed. This was a journey. I am a public servant, and being a public servant you never stop working,” Jackson Lee said. “I hope you’ll allow me to continue to work and serve you as I have done in the past because that is what I will do. I’m committed to doing what is necessary to make sure this is a great city.”

If Whitmire’s margin holds, it could be the largest margin of victory in an open mayoral runoff in nearly a half century. Mayor Jim McConn won in 1977 with 66.6%, and Mayor Bill White won in 2003 with 62%.

“Whitmire’s win is as decisive a win as we’ve seen in recent years,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston. “He stuck to his message, and his mobilization was on point.”

Whitmire will succeed outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner, who faced term limits and could not run again. The new mayor-elect did not shy away from criticizing Turner’s legacy on the campaign trail, leading to public disputes between the men.

Whitmire will take the helm of a government with a workforce of more than 20,000 and a $6 billion budget, a sharp change for a legislator accustomed to managing a small personal staff. He has vowed to put the city on a more sustainable financial footing, and to try to restore residents’ confidence in city services like the water system and recycling collection.

Whitmire built on a strong general election showing to get a runoff rout, dominating in the city’s highest voting districts. They include District C, centered in Montrose, the Heights and Meyerland, where Whitmire turned a 30-point advantage in November into a 57-point edge in December, according to early vote results. 

His November lead was 45 points in District G, which includes the conservative and wealthy enclaves of River Oaks, Uptown and much of west Houston. In December, he earned a whopping 77-point advantage in the early vote totals there. And in District E, which includes Kingwood and Clear Lake, he transformed a 30-point lead into a 68-point win in early voter turnout. 

Those three districts alone, which usually account for about half the votes in a municipal election, gave Whitmire a 44,000-vote cushion over Jackson Lee. His total lead in the early votes was about 38,400 votes.

The longtime lawmaker enjoyed several advantages in the race, including his early announcement two years before election day. “Clearly time was the major factor. Starting early and circling the wagons gave him the appearance of being a front-runner before anyone else got in,” said Rottinghaus.

But Whitmire also had a massive financial advantage — a $10 million campaign war chest he helped raise during his time in the Legislature. The specter of those funds may have fended off potential opponents in the early stages of the race. More recently, he deployed it to blanket local TV channels with advertisements.

Rottinghaus once called Whitmire’s campaign account the “800 pound gorilla” looming over the election, and it has made its presence known over the last few months. Whitmire outspent Jackson Lee 5-to-1 during the campaign, and he spent $3 million in November, more than the congresswoman doled out over her entire eight-month campaign.

The longtime Democratic lawmaker also benefited from the lack of a high-profile Republican in the field, allowing him to flex his reputation as a moderate coalition builder. He was able to bridge together elements of his traditional base with independent voters and conservatives who would not consider Jackson Lee. 

At 74, Whitmire is the oldest person elected Houston mayor in at least 100 years. The longtime lawmaker had been huddling with advisers and beginning to shape an administration as he campaigned over the last few months. That effort will now pick up steam as he maps out a transition team.

The new mayor will face several key challenges when he takes office in early January. Like any new mayor, he will have some six months to craft his first budget, a spending plan of about $6 billion. Whitmire has been short on explicit promises of what he will do with that plan, arguing nobody knows the true extent of the city’s finances outside City Hall.

Whitmire also inherits an eight-year contract stalemate between the city and one of his most enthusiastic supporters: the firefighters’ union. Whitmire, who long has gone to bat for firefighters, successfully sponsored a bill earlier this year allowing the union to go to binding arbitration in those disputes.

That new process, while already in effect, has been on hold as Turner’s administration challenged the law in court. Whitmire has promised to drop that challenge to quickly resolve that dispute.