Bay Area Houston

I don’t like it but I accept it.

Thanks to Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee for responding to this. As my 5 readers recall I noted that Houston City Council Member Elect, Wille Ray Davis, listed his residence as the City of Houston while taking a homestead and disable veteran exemption on his $600,000 home in Brazoria County. This exemption does not disqualify him from running in the City or voting in Harris County.

As I said, I do not like it but I accept it. A few years ago Dave Wilson, a candidate for Houston Community College, was sued by the County Attorney for not residing in the district he was running in. Wilson, a supporter of the sanctity of marriage, was separated from his wife and listed his residency as a 1,140-square-foot apartment upstairs at his office, located at 5600 W. 34th St. in the college system’s District II. He eventually won this lawsuit and took his seat on the Board. He eventually resigned.

So, back to Davis. The case against Wilson showed taking a homestead exemption doesn’t necessarily determine where you live, where you put your head down at night. It doesn’t make sense to those of us who are not trained in law. It’s not hard to understand but it is hard to accept. So there. A candidate can take a homestead exemption in another county and run in Houston for office by just claiming an address in Houston and claiming they live there.

I wonder if someone was tailed the candidate for a month, his cell phone traffic was investigated, and it showed they did not lay their head at their Houston address but instead at their homestead if that would make a difference.

Regardless, we can attend the inauguration ceremony on Jan 2 and welcome Willie Davis to the Houston City Council.

Now what?

After Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee entered the race for Houston Mayor, Amanda Edwards dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Amanda then filed to run for SJL Congressional District knowing that if SJL did not win she might run for re-election in her Congressional seat.

SJL lost by over 30 points and a day later she filed for her Congressional seat. Kind of not cool but that is politics and it was a risk Amanda realized and took. So now what? According to the Houston Chronicle Amanda has outraised SJL 4-1 and SJL won her district in the Mayors race by only 2 points. Amanda has been working the district for months. She is raising money. She is young and very capable of doing the job. She has experience as a former City Council Member.

Sheila is Sheila. She had performed the job for many years. Everyone knows her but that loss in the Mayors race was huge. It was surprising and her performance in her own district has to be concerning.

Personally I wish SJL had ended the race for Mayor by endorsing Amanda and welcoming a new, well qualified, young, woman for the next Congresswoman for Congressional District 18.

But then again. What the hell do I know?

Let’s just jump right in….

The Good. Ding Dong Buzbee’s gone! After spending over $800,000 of his own money for a district race that usually costs at the very most $100,000 Buzbee got his ass handed to him. Again. In 2019 he spent over $13 Million of his own money to lose like a bitch to Turner and he lost like a bitch again. Even the rich white folk of District G knew better than to elect Buzbee.

More Good. Senator John Whitmire is the new Mayor of Houston beating Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee by 31 points. That was not expected. Maybe 10-15 points but 31? I still don’t understand why SJL entered this race. She is a lightning rod for the rabid right and lightning struck last night. To the 34% of voters who supported SJL, give Whitmire a chance. Yes he is a moderate but he is actually a progressive who moves the ball forward. He has a history of making progress. He is going to be good for the city.

More Good. Chris Hollins easily beats Orlando Sanchez. I can’t figure this one out. If those who voted for Hollins had voted for Sheila, Sheila would have been Mayor. Go figure. Well, Hollins was the least qualified of the entire bunch running for Controller and now he is Controller. As with Whitmire, let’s give him the opportunity to succeed.

The Bad. Juan Ramirez and Twila Carter won by just a couple hundred votes. Hopefully they will not be MAGAts on City Council coupled with Fred Flickinger and WIllie Davis to just cause chaos. There are a number of republican voting Council Members but they work well with others providing a good balance where needed. Hopefully Ramirez and Carter will fit in. I have my doubts about Flickinger and Davis.

The Ugly. What the living fuck Houston? Wille Davis over Nick Hellyar? Whether you are a Democrat or Republican Nick Hellyar was by by far the most qualified, most respected, most endorsed, candidate running for city council this cycle. Instead you voted for Willie Davis? I mean, come on man. That is just plain fucking ugly. Davis didn’t raise much money so someone had to finance his campaign. More on that later. With Davis there could be up to 4 MAGAt Republicans on City Council. That is enough to cause chaos.

Sides are being taken.

Financial reports have been posted for the Houston City Council races, Mayor and Controller. Here is a rundown.

Mayor. Whitmire raised $1.7 million. Sheila Jackson Lee raised $498,000. There is a PAC supporting Whitmire that raised $576,000. More on them later. It’s clear the various PACs, at least 16 of them donating the max $10,000, believes Whitmire will win and many have joined them. These PACs include the Firefighters, Houston Apartment Association, Police Union, and many business PACs. PACs can only donate a maximum of$10,000. Individuals can donated only $5,000. SJL has only 1 PAC that donated the max allowed. Raising money doesn’t aways results in a win. Ask Tony Buzbee. Speaking of…

District G. Buzbee threw in another $300,000 of his own money into his campaign for a total of $850,000 in personal loans. He raised $48,000. City Council Member Mary Nan Huffman raised $158,000. As with Whitmire I think the PACs are banking on a Huffman win.

Controller. Hollins raised $330,000. Orlando Sanchez raised $82,000. Here are the rest: