Texas state senator John Whitmire and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee will face off in a runoff election for Houston mayor, as neither candidate topped the 50% threshold

Both candidates stood out from a crowded field with their high name recognition, decades of public service, and in Whitmire's case, a massive war chest that allowed him to blanket the airwaves with ads. Jackson Lee is considered the more progressive of the two leading candidates.

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The race turned out to be one of the most crowded and expensive in recent memory. Eighteen candidates vied for the seat of term-limited Mayor Sylvester Turner. Other major names in the race included former Metro chairman Gilbert Garcia, Houston City Council member Robert Gallegos, former Houston City Council member Jack Christie, and Houston attorney Lee Kaplan.

The campaign was largely uneventful, but that changed in October when an audio recording of Jackson Lee berating and cursing at her staff was leaked online. She then said that "Whitmire operatives" released the recording to the public the day before early voting began. Whitmire said during the last debate, "It's absurd to suggest I would want anyone to hear those words."

Key issues for voters

Throughout the campaign, polls showed that a majority of Houstonians believe that the next mayor should make crime reduction a priority.

Jackson Lee said she would use an approach that focuses on building trust between the community and police and creating more jobs for those in need.

"My plan includes analyzing the high-crime areas in our city and targeting those areas with our law enforcement. Of course, this will be tied to community-police relations, so it won't be like we're targeting our neighbors," she said in an interview with Houston Public Media. "But at the same time, I'm going to work with the U.S. Department of Labor. I want to have more job training programs here. I want to make sure we have a solid re-employment program."

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Throughout the campaign, some people have been concerned about Whitmire's promise to bring in 200 Texas Department of Public Safety officers to assist the Houston Police Department.

"They will be working under the direction of Chief Finner," he said, "who will tell you today that they are already there. They are partners with their gang task force [and] their drug task force."

Whitmire said that in addition to manpower, DPS has other resources that the Houston Police Department currently lacks. These include helicopters to reduce the threat posed by high-speed chases and an additional crime lab that could help reduce the backlog in Houston's rape and ballistics kits. It is unclear whether the Houston Police Department would use DPS's crime lab for cases that are not directly related to DPS.

Still, according to Whitmire, all of this would allow HPD to focus on other tasks. "Your alarm goes off, criminals don't even bother with that anymore because they know there won't be a response," Whitmire said. "Traffic enforcement is not what it should be. Violent offenders with warrants for their arrest are walking the streets of Houston."

Conclusion

The runoff election is scheduled for November 8, 2023. It will be a close race, with both candidates having strong strengths and weaknesses. Jackson Lee's progressive platform is likely to appeal to younger and minority voters, while Whitmire's experience and focus on crime are likely to appeal to older and white voters.

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• I added a sentence at the beginning to provide context for the story.
• I added more details about the background of the two leading candidates.
• I added more details about the key issues in the race.
• I added a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the article.