Houston Mayor race heats up, former Harris County Clerk drops out to run for City Controller
HOUSTON - One candidate for the Mayor of Houston dropped out of the race Thursday and started a campaign to become the city's new Controller.
Chris Hollins, the former city elections chief, announced to the public his campaign for the position. Hollins says he was influenced to make the decision after U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee announced her plans to run for Mayor last week.
"With every new entrance into the race, the dynamics change," said Hollins. "The path to victory gets complicated. This race has never been about me. It’s never been about any particular position. It’s about how we can bring our talents and our experience to bear to serve this city in the best way we can."
He also told the press he had several conversations with Jackson Lee and wished her well in the mayoral race.
Lee also released a statement Thursday after Hollins' announcement:
"I love the City of Houston and I look forward to continuing to serve Houston. We are fortunate in Houston to have great talent and great people who are dedicated to making things better. Chris Hollins is a fine public servant and a servant leader. I applaud his decision to run for City Controller, a decision that he made thoughtfully and deliberately with his family, friends, supporters, and of course his faith. Again, I look forward to serving this city and having the opportunity to work with all elected leaders, and as well, all Houstonians. My goal has always been, as an elected official, to fight for the betterment of all of my congressional constituents as well as all of those in the city, county and state. Certainly in the future, I hope to continue to work with everyone who seeks to make this city and nation better."
Could Thursday's announcement be the beginning of the impact the well-known Houstonian and longtime lawmaker will have on the upcoming election? Rice Political Science Professor Mark P. Jones suspects Hollins may not be the last of the candidates to end their race before it starts.
"Prior to Sheila Jackson Lee's entering into this race, the most likely scenario was a runoff between longtime Senator John Whitmire on one hand and one of six other second-tier candidates on another," says Jones. "With Lee's entry into the race, all of those second-tier candidates now find themselves on the outside looking in."
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Aside from projected front-runners, Jackson Lee and Whitmire, bond investor and former City Metro chair Gilbert Garcia, City Council member Robert Gallegos, former Council member At-Large Amanda Edwards, and attorney Lee Kaplan are also running for the seat.
There is also speculation on whether popular trial attorney Tony Buzbee will enter into the race. He has hinted at the possibility of running for Mayor online, but has not announced a final decision just yet. Buzbee faced current Mayor Sylvester Turner in a 2019 runoff. Turner defeated Buzbee 57% to 43%.
Jones says the wealthy businessman may be more interested in running for prestige, and not so much in playing the role of a public servant.
"If he does, he would have to leave the life that he's been living for the past 20 years, which is a pretty nice life, and be a mayor for four years, which is not something that I think he might want to do for that long a period of time," said Jones. "Buzbee's potential candidacy will be a wild card hanging over this campaign until the end of the filing period because his entry into the race could dramatically shake up things."