Only three hours till the filing deadline for the November city elections. Here's the candidate list (PDF) as of this morning - Matt Stiles has it in sorted Google docs format here. Despite his earlier press release, Roy Morales has not made an appearance yet. As things stand now, only Sue Lovell would have an opponent among the At Large incumbents, and as she'll be facing perennial candidate "Grif" Griffin, I doubt she's terribly worried. Among the other Council incumbents, only Anne Clutterbuck in District C has a challenger so far. Mayor White has two foes; I look forward to the endorsement debate on blogHouston between Outlaw Josey Wales IV and Amanda C. Ulman.
The open seats are where the action is. Six candidates for At Large #5 - Democrats Jolanda Jones, Zaf Tahir, Jose Trevino, and Marlon Barabin; Republicans Jack Christie and Tom Nixon. I tend to think Jolanda Jones has a leg up on getting into a runoff, but all bets are off on that. District D has five contenders, District E has four, and District I has the same two it's had since January. I plan to do another round of candidate interviews for these races as time permits. If you're involved in any of them and haven't already spoken to me, please drop me a note (kuff - at - offthekuff - dot - com) so we can arrange a time for an interview. Meanwhile, I'll update this post as new information about who is or isn't filing comes in.
UPDATE: Here's the updated list. Jarvis Johnson drew an opponent, a third candidate came forward in Districts C and I, and the final totals for District D and At Large #5 is eight in each. Yowza.
Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 05, 2007 to Election 2007Huh. I am surprised that Anne Clutterbuck didn't pull more of an opposition than a GP'er. Her 20% plurality in the first round of 2005 was somewhat less than overwhelming (especially in an area that sends Democrats to the Texas House), though, to her credit, the only boneheaded move she made was the whole "cantilever the MetroRail in a place nobody can get to it, while demolishing homes" bit.
Posted by: Souperman on September 5, 2007 8:06 PMwho is challenging ann clutterbuck? she will cruise
Posted by: benhur on September 5, 2007 8:31 PMI look forward to the endorsement debate on blogHouston between Outlaw Josey Wales IV and Amanda C. Ulman.
Sorry to disappoint, but we don't endorse political candidates.
We're happy to leave endorsements to the MSM, interest groups, and those who blog in the service of their political party.
Posted by: Kevin Whited on September 5, 2007 9:56 PMNo smiley, Kevin? Guess I must have hit a nerve.
Souperman, I'm not surprised. By all accounts, Clutterbuck has done very well as CM for District C.
Benhur, there are now two opponents for CM Clutterbuck. See the update link for the names.
Posted by: Charles Kuffner on September 5, 2007 10:34 PMThat is fair (and I haven't researched the race that much) and she may well get my vote - I moved into the district early last year from A, which has always been a battle of who was best at painting their opponent as more liberal. City council is generally more moderate and collegial than most legislative bodies, meaning that the Moderate Repub, an endangered species in most parts of Texas, can sometimes win in more Democratic areas. However, an incumbent is most vulnerable in their first re-election and sometimes that will draw people to run, even if they don't have much of a shot in actuality.
I know Alfred Molison is some Green Party leader; can't find anything on Robert Glaser.
Posted by: Souperman on September 6, 2007 12:49 AMann has done a fantastic job! she has fixed problems in our community that have never been fixed-like the stench from the houston sewer plant on braes bayou.i hated living with that.
Posted by: benhur on September 6, 2007 1:59 AM"... and those who blog in the service of their political party"
Truly a constituency of the delusional, Kevin is.
From the man who advocated strenuously for the re-election of Rick Perry, ladies and gentlemen ... from the man who argued that the Chronicle was surely missing the ascendant rise of Republicans in Houston by not giving fawning coverage to Orlando Sanchez in his quest for mayor.
Yeah, no partisanship there.
Posted by: Greg Wythe on September 6, 2007 9:26 AM