Vote Early

Early voting in person is underway in the runoff races for H-Town City Council At-Large 4 and Houston City College, Trustee District II. The Chron E-Board has endorsed Alejandra Salinas for At-Large 4 and Renee Jefferson Patterson for City College Trustee.  Here is from the E-Board today on why you should vote and on Alejandra:

Ever feel like your one puny vote doesn’t make any difference? That your voice is no match against corporate lobbyists and deep-pocketed donors? 

No doubt, our democracy needs a major tune-up, but today, at least, you can have a big impact. Early voting for local runoffs are from now until Dec. 9, and Election Day is Dec. 13. Turnout will likely be depressingly low. The silver lining is that if you do cast a ballot, you’ll be many times more powerful than you would be during a general election. 

Consider that in 2021, a Houston ISD board election was decided by less than 50 votes. You could tip an election like that if you educate friends and family, and bring them along to the polls. 

Harris County has two runoff races — the At-Large 4 position for Houston City Council and the District 2 board trustee for Houston City College.

We know most voters don’t have time to dig into the candidates’ backgrounds. That’s why we meet with the candidates, talk with experts, conduct background checks and more. Our goal is to share what we learn and explain our reasoning so you can make an informed choice, even if you disagree with us.

Houston needs more council members who have the policy smarts and fearlessness to challenge the mayor. It’s true with Mayor John Whitmire, and it was true of his predecessors.

When we first interviewed her in October, Alejandra Salinas, 35, stressed her desire to work collaboratively with the mayor and others on council. Recently, however, she showed a different side. After Whitmire admitted that Houston cooperates with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Salinas released a powerful response. 

“This is wrong,” she wrote on social media. “I am profoundly disappointed in the lack of transparency by the administration. One of my relatives, a U.S. citizen, was wrongly detained by ICE. He is OK, but the unlawful actions of ICE are not. Our city should not enable wrongful actors.”

Salinas, who is a partner and trial attorney at an elite law firm, spelled out for us in a follow-up screening what questions need to be answered so Houston and its police department can follow the law while minimizing cooperation with the Trump administration’s immigration dragnet.

The other runoff candidate, Dwight Boykins, 62, represented District D on City Council for six years. He said he’d focus on infrastructure. Despite his experience and charm, and his backing by a broad coalition of Democrats and Republicans, we found his knowledge lacking on the very issues he cared about most, including infrastructure. 

In our strong mayor form of government, all the departments, including the legal team, report to the mayor. Council members need their own in-depth research and analysis, whether they’re working behind the scenes or mounting an out-in-the-open challenge to the mayor’s authority. Salinas has the chops to do that effectively.

Here is the entire E-Board endorsement take: Houston runoff endorsements from the Chronicle Editorial Board.

I guess the E-Board felt it had to take a shot at Boykins over his lack of knowledge on City Hall issues. Ouch.

I have no idea who will win this race. Boykins will win the African American vote. Alejandra will win the Latino vote. In her mail pieces, Alejandra is playing up her endorsements from some prominent Democrats. In a mail piece from Boykins, I received recently, Boykins lists endorsements from Democrats and MAGA. I think Boykins believes he has a shot at the MAGA voter. Stay tuned and vote early.

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The Houston Chronicle has a lengthy investigative piece today on the slimy Midtown Redevelopment Authority. A lot of people have made a ton of money off the Authority but didn’t produce much of a product. Wow. Go check out the Chron piece.

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My Beatles wall calendars for December has a color photo of the four from 1967 and the 45-record sleeve from 1968 for “Hey Jude” and “Revolution.”

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Daniella Guzman, center in the featured photo, made her debut as the regular co-host on KPRC Channel 2 Early Morning New today.