Council Member-Elect Salinas

Congrats to Council Member-Elect Alejandra Salinas. She won the At-Large 4 race decisively over former Council Member Dwight Boykins. The “What’s Your Point” crew were pretty much dismissive of her victory and the low voter turnout yesterday morning. It looks like she will end up with about 57% of the vote.

My home precinct in the Heights went 376-38 for Alejandra. She won an Eastwood precinct in the East End 243-9.  She won a Magnolia Park box in the East End 82-3. She won a River Oaks precinct 133-67 and a Denver Harbor neighborhood box 64-1.  Pretty impressive in my book.

Here is what State Senator Carol Alvarado tweeted yesterday:

Tidbits worth noting—Alejandra will be the first Latina in the horseshoe since I left in ‘08! She’s the first Latina elected citywide since Gracie Saenz in the 90s.

Nice win.

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This is incredibly silly. See this from the Chron:

Mayor John Whitmire will no longer be able to get endorsements from the Harris County Democratic Party following an overwhelming vote Sunday by the party’s precinct chairs, issuing what could pose as a debilitating blow to his 2027 re-election campaign.

Precinct chairs voted 186-80 at a highly attended meeting Sunday to deny the mayor future endorsements after a coalition of chairs submitted a proposal following Whitmire’s participation in a fundraising event for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican representing Kingwood and Humble.

Whitmire has faced heat for months from more than 100 precinct chairs who have accused him of undermining the “values and mission of the Democratic party,” and “(standing) on the sidelines” and failing to stand up for Houstonians as Trump changed policy at the federal level.

“John Whitmire’s agenda is indistinguishable from that of a MAGA mayor,” the chairs’ original statement read, referring to the Trump campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” 

“With Trump in office and pursuing an illegal and authoritarian agenda impacting millions of Houstonians, we deserve to have a fighter who wants to represent us, not a willing enabler of an emerging dictatorship,” the statement continued. “If Whitmire wants to be a Republican, that’s OK, but he shouldn’t be able to do that and count on the support of thousands of grassroots volunteers who shed blood, sweat and tears to knock on doors and elect people who represent our values.”

Here is the entire read: Whitmire denied future Harris County Democrat endorsements.

Before the meeting, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo put out this statement:

“Do not let them bully you. Do not let them shame you. Do not let them tell you this is ‘divisive.’ What’s divisive is governing Houston like Greg Abbott is your north star. Pass the resolution.”

After the meeting, someone tweeted this:

Whitmire will no longer be able to get endorsements from the Harris County Democratic Party, issuing what could pose as a debilitating blow to his next campaign in 2027 to secure a second term as mayor.

Mayor Whitmire responded with this tweet:

I stand with elected officials, labor leaders, and fellow Democrats because unity is our strength. No resolution will change the fact that I am a Democrat with a 50-year record of voting and supporting Democratic values.

H-Town is a city that promotes Democratic values. Mayor Whitmire has been running the city for close to two years now and enjoys positive job approval from a strong majority of H-Town voters. It looks like the Harris County Democratic Party is out of step with City of H-Town voters.

I will also say that Judge Hidalgo’s statement is dumb and lazy.

There are only three people who live in the City of H-Town who voted to convict crooked, cheating Ken Paxton at his impeachment trial. None of them were precinct chairs who attended the meeting yesterday.

So, silly.

Oh yeah, the three who voted to convict Paxton are Mayor Whitmire and State Senators Carol Alvarado and Borris Miles.

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I have been a fan of Rob Reiner since the “All in the Family” days. His movies have stood the test of time like “The Princess Bride,” “A Few Good Men,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Stand by Me,” and “The American President.” I am shocked that he is no longer with us. My heart goes out to the family of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer. So sad.

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I went to the Texans game yesterday with my best friend. He has great seats at the club level. The featured photo is the halftime entertainment with Toro descending from the rafters – see the image near the 40-yard line marker. It was a great game.