Bay Area Houston

This is out of my district but the race highlights a very disturbing trend.

The Houston Chronicle wrote an article titled “Houston’s District C candidates clash over voting records” questioning the record of candidate Joe Panzarella. If it mattered to voters, his record of voting is questionable. He voted in the Republican primary in 2016 and in the Democratic Party in 2018 and 2024. His voting in the general election started in 2020. His opponent, Nick Hellyar, has a strong record of voting in every Democratic primary, general election, and the runoffs since 2008. The difference is night and day. The Chronicle said:

“Hellyar produced records showing Panzarella voted in the 2016 Republican primary despite saying at a March 18 candidate forum that he had voted in the Democratic primary in 2024 and “every Democratic primary before that.”

Hellyar’s participation in the Democratic Party is also very strong. He has served as a precinct chair. He has volunteered for a number of political campaigns, which as all volunteers know, is very difficult work. He has participated in County and State conventions. Besides have a strong record of voting in the Democratic Party, participating in the party, and having campaign experience, Nick has excellent, applicable, experience in City Council. He has served several elected officials to manage constituent services in their offices. He didn’t wake up one day and decided to run for City Council. He knows City Council. His experience in the office prepared him to run. He also has endorsements from many organizations and individuals representing a broad coalition in this non-partisan race.

Unfortunately the trend in local politics has changed and not for the better. Somehow voting in Democratic Primaries is not a requirement to run in the Democratic Party or even to run the Party. Last month a new comer to the party with no record of voting in the primary, and little if any participation in the Party, was voted in as Chair of the Party. Go figure.

Also having experience for the position you are running for doesn’t seem to matter either. A recent college grad, with little if any voting record, and no applicable experience is running for Harris County District Clerk to manage 500 employees and the court records of the 3rd largest county in the country. His opponent has a wealth of applicable experience. As an example of what could go wrong, Hays County voted for a young inexperienced candidate for District Clerk. He resigned two years later and left the office in shambles. Again the difference in the two candidates is night and day and yet prominent organizations and officials are backing the inexperienced newbie. Again, go figure.

City Council is a non partisan position but many know which Party the candidates associate with and what experience they bring to the table. If experience and party affiliation matters to voters in District C then the choice is very clear.

I can only wish that District E was competitive and an experienced Democratic candidate actually had a chance of winning.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 at 6:57 am and is filed under Political. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.