Houston mayoral election heads to runoff

State Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston), the two frontrunners of the 2023 Houston mayoral election, are heading toward a runoff next month. The crowded field of aspirants seeking to succeed incumbent Sylvester Turner initially started at nearly 20, but was narrowed down to the two, who neither garnered the 50% of the votes to win the race.

"Whitmire led all candidates with 107,097, or 43% of the vote, while Jackson Lee having secured 89,773, 36% of the vote," said Houston ABC affiliate KTRK News. Gilbert Garcia, Dr. Jack Christie and Lee Kaplan were other candidates to receive more than 1% of the vote.

"The mayoral runoff is slated for Dec. 9," reported Houston NPR affiliate KUHF News. "Whitmire and Jackson Lee appealed most with voters because of their name recognition and lengthy political careers." Together they have approximately 80 years of experience in public office.

Houston CBS station KHOU News reported that this was the first Election Day held after several election security and integrity laws went into effect statewide. "Harris County’s previous elections since the 2022 state party primaries were plagued by a slew of problems," they said. Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth told KHOU News that Nov.7 races had been conducted smoothly.