HOUSTON (CN) — Texas state Senator John Whitmire and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee qualified for a Dec. 9 runoff Tuesday in Houston’s mayoral election after accusations of dirty politics surfaced in their campaigns.
Together, Whitmire and Jackson Lee, both Democrats, received more than 77% of the over 247,000 votes Houstonians cast in the nominally nonpartisan race, according to unofficial results from the Harris County Clerk’s Office.
Whitmire led with 106,434 votes, or 43%, to Jackson Lee's 86,061, or 34.8%.
Since no candidate secured 50 percent of the vote, the top two advance to a runoff.
Their two closest rivals were far behind, garnering about 17,000 and 18,000 votes, as predicted by polls showing the longtime legislators neck and neck for months.
Whitmire, 74, widely promoted himself in TV ads and mailers, spending $9 million on his campaign, twice as much as any other candidate, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Jackson Lee and another candidate accused Whitmire of possibly violating campaign finance laws in letters to the city attorney.
They claimed Whitmire was spending money he had raised for past state Senate campaigns on the mayor’s race, beyond limits imposed by city ordinance. The city attorney has investigated but taken no action.
A former Houston City Council member, Jackson Lee, 73, has represented the city in Congress since 1995. If elected, she would be the city's first Black female mayor.
Tensions between the frontrunners thickened in late October after a recording of Jackson Lee berating two of her staffers was emailed to news outlets. Jackson Lee said in a debate a “Whitmire operative” had leaked the clip to sabotage her amid early voting.
Whitmire denied he had anything to do with the audio, in which Jackson Lee called two of her employees “big-ass children” and “fucking idiots who serve no goddamn purpose.” She apologized and did not deny it was her.
Known as the Dean of the Texas Senate, Whitmire has represented his north Houston district since 1983. He first entered higher office in his early 20s, serving in the Texas House for a decade before moving to the upper chamber.
As a survivor, along with his wife and daughter, of a 1992 armed robbery, Whitmire favored tough sentences for criminals and spearheaded construction of prisons early in his career.
In recent years, however, he has authored legislation meant to keep people with mental health and drug problems out of county jails and get them into treatment.
Jackson Lee, now in her 14th term on Capitol Hill, co-wrote the legislation that made Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S., a national holiday.
She has also sponsored bills to reform federal prison sentencing; set use-of-force standards for federal, state and local police; and encouraged states to limit cash bonds so people who cannot pay do not languish in jail.
Though Houston’s murder rate as of Oct. 15 was down 17.95% from the same period last year and robberies are also on the decline, according to Police Chief Troy Finner, polls show that crime is the No. 1 issue for the city's voters.
Whitmire and Jackson Lee have both said they will focus on “community policing” and target high-crime areas with gang issues by increasing law enforcement presence.
The Houston police and firefighters unions have endorsed Whitmire, who has promised that if he wins he will end a long-running pay dispute, mired in litigation, between the mayor’s office and firefighters.
Houston’s outgoing controller, Chris Brown, recently warned officials the city is headed for a “fiscal cliff” as federal Covid-19 relief dollars dry up and local and state laws limit property tax revenue.
He told the City Council if Houston, the U.S.'s fourth-largest city, does not cut costs it will face a $300 million budget shortfall within two or three years, possibly leading to library closures and firefighter layoffs.
Jackson Lee has said she would leverage her congressional experience and connections to get appropriations for the city and help shore up its finances. Whitmire, meanwhile, said he wants to get a multibillion-dollar bond measure passed to fix the city’s rundown water infrastructure.
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