Bay Area Houston

As Tony Buzbee said, he fights with both hands, drinks with both hands and will beat off his opponents in District G with both hands.

OMG. Just what we need in the race for District G, a damn freak show. Again. Four years ago Buzbee spent $13 Million of his own money in a race for Mayor. He ended in a runoff with Mayor Turner then got wiped out and went into political hiding for 4 years popping up for air to defend Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial.

According to the Houston Chronicle Buzbee was escorted through city hall by former Council Member Greg Travis. Who is Greg Travis? Glad you asked…..Travis resigned from city council to run for State Representative. He lost. He also resigned from all his committee assignments leaving the hard work to his colleagues. He also made racist comments about Michelle Obama with many calling for his resignation. That is who Tony Buzbee has sided with.

During his race for Mayor Buzbee attempted to play both sides of the political aisle, donating $90,000 to the Harris County Democratic Party, donating to the Gay Caucus, hosting a fundraiser for Donald Trump at his home, and seeking the endorsement from Steven Hotze an anti-gay hate monger. It didn’t work. He was boo-ed out of the room at the Democratic Executive Committee meeting and Hotze eventually pulled his endorsement. Even the Harris County Republican Party refused to endorse Buzbee.

Buzbee received the endorsement from the Houston Fire Fighters in the runoff. The Fire Fighters had previously endorsed Dwight Boykins as well as Anthony Dolcefino, one of the worst candidates to have run for city council. Buzbee was in good company.

Buzbee will probably spend another couple of million of his own money against current incumbent Mary Nan Huffman. Huffman has $100,000 cash on hand.

If you are going to run, then run. Or don’t.

Today begins the filing period for Houston City races. The period runs till Aug 21. According to campaign finance reports for the period ending June 30 there are a number of candidates for each race that are serious about running and there are those who are not.

The filing deadline for submitting campaign finance reports ended Monday July 17. Candidates were to have submitted their reports electronically or via paper at https://www.houstontx.gov/council/reports2023.html. Even if a candidate does not raise or spend money the reports must be filed showing $0 raised and $0 spent. It’s isn’t that hard. The following candidates have not filed reports for this period.

Mayor
Gaylon Caldwell
Julian Martinez
Theudis Daniel

At Large 1
Anthony Dolcefino

At Large 3
Bernard “Bernardo” Amadi
Ethan Michelle Ganz
Richard Nguyen

At Large 5
Chad Cossey

Controller
Orlando Sanchez

NOTE: To be far, many candidates contribute to their own campaigns. Some with non refundable donations our of their own pockets and/or loans. Candidate for Mayor Gilbert Garcia has reported raising $3,290,664 in donations, but $3,030,000 came from his own pocket.
Fred Flickinger, candidate for District E is also self financing.

As I have said in the past, before you run for office make sure you know the laws concerning campaign donations.

City of Houston elections will be in November. The Houston Chronicle has a list of candidates that have filed. The filing deadline is in August so this list can change. Also candidates will have the opportunity to move to different positions until the deadline.

A couple of notes. I believe there is a $5000 limit on donations from individuals and PACs. Robin Williams, who is running for Mayor, has a number of donations, including one from herself, that has violated this limit. An amount of NA means the candidate has not filed a report yet. I only included At Large and the District E race which includes Clear Lake. For incumbents I included the figures only from their last report. Some of the candidates have reported fundraising numbers over the past year and some have raised money only over the last few months. Senator Whitmire has listed Cash on Hand including his donations from his previous years in office, as did Martin and Kubosh. Here are the totals for Houston City Council races:

The filing period to appear on the ballot for the City of Houston November election runs from July 22 – August 21.

Before you file to run for Mayor, City Council, or Controller do yourself, your family, and your friends a favor by investigating the office before running for the office. Here are a few tips and questions you might want to consider before signing up. I am sure a political consultant might want to add a few other tips to this list. 

Follow the law. Running for office requires you to follow the laws of the State governing elections such as filing timely financial reports disclosing donations and expenditures. Visit the Texas Ethics Commission website BEFORE you run, not after a complaint has been filed. A complaint could be very costly to you and your treasurer. Also visit the Campaign Finance webpage for the City of Houston at http://www.houstontx.gov/campaignfinance/

It’s not a game. Running for office is not a game. There is nothing cute about running. It is very, very, tough work for the candidate and your volunteers. The position has a direct impact on people’s lives whether it is timely trash collection, providing a safe neighborhood with our police and our fire fighters, or protecting our country from foreign and domestic threats. Don’t cheapen the office by running just for the sake of running and distracting from those who have a clear understanding of what they are doing and are qualified to run.

It will cost money. Lots of money. A run for a City Council at Large seat could cost a couple hundred thousand dollars. This will include money to run a successful campaign to target the needed number of voters to win. If you do not intend to raise the necessary amount of money needed, then do not run, Do the math before you sign. Understand what the campaign will need and how much this will cost and whether you can raise that amount. It’s not just about buying a boat load of signs.

What qualifications do you bring to the table? Our government allows anyone to put their name on the ballot but some shouldn’t. Ask yourself if you understand the position you are running for. Do you have qualifications or personal experience that would apply to this position? Do you understand the process used to pass legislation, and do you know the players behind the scenes? Have you been involved in your community that you want to represent?

How many votes do you need to win? This is a hard question and is never an exact science but you can determine, with analysis of the past elections, an idea of the number of votes needed to push you over the top. This number will drive your campaign strategy and fundraising efforts. If you can’t answer this question then you really shouldn’t run.

How much money will it take to win? The number of votes you need to win will drive your fundraising efforts. As said above, running for office is not a game and it costs money. You will be on the phone for hours a day raising campaign cash in order to achieve that winning number.

Who is your financial base? Who will you be depending upon to achieve your financial goals in order to achieve that winning number of votes?

Who is your volunteer base? Who will be there to make phone calls for you or block walk in the hot sun? Do you have a base of supporters or do you intend to file and expect your political clubs to drop what they are doing and support you? A campaign will strain your relationships with family and friends. It’s a grueling undertaking requiring a considerable amount of dedication and support. You should have buy in from your family and those you expect to support you before you sign up.

Good luck and thank you for running or deciding not to.