Democrat John Whitmire elected Houston mayor, defeating congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee

[brooklynite]

Source: Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston elected Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire as its next mayor on Saturday night, elevating a Texas lawmaker who has represented the city for 50 years by giving him a victory over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in a runoff.

Whitmire, 74, who is one of Texas’ most powerful Democratic legislators, will now be at the helm of America’s fourth-largest city. His campaign focused on reducing crime, improving streets and bringing people together. He heavily outspent Jackson Lee, who was running to become Houston’s first Black female mayor.

The congresswoman’s campaign also had to deal with fallout from the release in October of an unverified audio recording that purported to capture her profanely berating staff.

Whitmire built an insurmountable lead among early voters, winning among those voters by 30 percentage points.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/houston-mayor-election-runoff-2023-jackson-whitmire-ddbc4819f5aba2f5a59c56a18ba7078a?taid=6575146eaf474a00016afaf1

[Bleacher Creature]

1. I was on the Hill for a while and it was well known that she was awful to her staff.

She's always been a great Democrat but there's no excuse for treating people like crap.

[bottomofthehill]

2. Abuse of her staff is legend

That said, she lost the Mayors race. She will still be able to torment her Hill staff

[padah513]

5. Agreed. I think Abraham Lincoln said it best.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." In this case it's a woman, the the rule still applies.

[walkingman]

3. Congratulations Mayor Whitmire - Houston is a great city and hope you make it even better.

[BeyondGeography]

4. A two-to-one thumping

Somebody should just retire.

[dalton99a]

6. "People want to go to work for me because we respect people. We don't bully people"

In his victory speech after a landslide win in the Houston mayoral runoff, Mayor-Elect State Sen. John Whitmire snubbed his opponent, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, while outlining some of his priorities as the city's next leader.

"People want to go to work for me because we respect people. We don't bully people," Whitmire said in his victory speech Saturday night. "My family taught me to treat people the way you want to be treated, and that works wherever you are, regardless of what community you're visiting with. Treat these individuals like you want to be treated."

Whitmire was referring to an audio leaked in October that showed the congresswoman cursing out one of her staff members over the phone. Jackson Lee blamed the leak on the mayor-elect's operatives. Whitmire repeatedly denied Jackson Lee's claims.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/mayor-john-whitmire-election-18544745.php

[Oopsie Daisy]

9. If it was genuine, does it matter where the "leaked audio" came from?

Why would she assume that it's one of the Whitmire's "operatives," rather than... oh, I don't know... maybe it came from the staff member she was berating on the phone.

[Lonestarblue]

7. Whitmire is considered far more conservative than Lee.

His large margin was from Republican votes since both candidates are Democrats. He’s also white, which Republicans much prefer.

[The Grand Illuminist]

13. I thought Lee went to Green Party

NT

[emulatorloo]

16. He also doesn't abuse his staff, which staff members much prefer.

[ananda]

8. Both were good candidates.

Houston will be fine.

[ificandream]

10. Maybe on the plus side for the congresswoman, the Dems won't lose a seat in the House.

And as others have mentioned, I have to wonder where that tape leaked from. Hopefully, a journalist is investigating that.

[brooklynite]

11. Her seat is D+23; we were never going to lose it.

[ificandream]

12. That's good to hear. tx.

[William Seger]

14. We'll have to see what happens with this situation:

?si=x63OtATWZ1ILH11t

[LauraInLA]

15. This campaign ad mistake probably didn't help Sheila Jackson Lee, either.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4340445-congresswoman-released-ad-telling-supporters-to-vote-on-the-wrong-day/

It told people voting ended on Dec. 7 rather than Dec. 9. I don’t know who was running her campaign, but?