In the end, it wasn’t close.
Mayor John Whitmire
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.”
The proposal sailed through the party’s resolutions committee with a 14-5 vote and its steering committee with a 17-7 vote before going up to the full party on Sunday evening.
Neither Whitmire nor his spokesperson returned a request for comment from the Houston Chronicle on the result of the vote. Whitmire and his spokesperson have not returned any Chronicle reporters’ requests for comment since Aug. 17.
I was there and I voted for it. I’ve said what I have to say about this, so let me add this much. While the Crenshaw fundraiser wasn’t that big a deal to me, it was clearly a significant point of contention. I thought the three Whitmire defenders who spoke on his behalf (the pro- and anti- sides of the resolution were each allowed three speakers before the vote) tried to downplay that, which I disliked. They cast it as him attending a fundraiser, when it has been described as him being the headliner. That’s a significant difference, and I think the Whitmire defenders should have acknowledged why people might have been mad about that. Own it, don’t duck it.
On the other hand, I thought the Whitmire defenders’ strongest point was one made about Whitmire appealing to Crenshaw to persuade Donald Trump to not block or rescind $350 million in derecho/Beryl recovery aid, as he has done with other cities with Democratic Mayors. That effort was successful, and while I don’t know how much of a role Crenshaw had in that, it is a meritorious point, once one gets past the horror of a President who would ever do that to any American city. Frankly, it’s a point that Whitmire himself should have been making once this issue started to boil up. I might have felt differently if that had been a significant part of the discussion. But then Whitmire would need to be a better communicator, and the fact that he hasn’t even bothered to give a comment to the Chronicle since August (!) speaks quite loudly to that.
Even after all this, it’s not too late for Whitmire to try to mend some fences. I don’t expect him to do that, but it is a path he could take, if he wants to. I’m ready to move on to 2026 and the big elections there that face us. Read the rest (gift link) if you want to know more.
I figure that I would probably make the same decision if I had that vote. Whitmire may think he represents “Democratic values” and he might if this were still 1974. And even if he is more progressive than we give him credit for, he’s definitely not showing up to the fight with his rolling over for Trump and Abbott. Sharing the stage with Crenshaw for a partisan GOP fundraiser (if it were a ribbon-cutting or solemn ceremony, that’s another thing) is not going to make you friends in your own party – y’know, those unimportant people who helped get you elected.
Good vote I’d say. Most fun I had in that body was trying to keep nut cases like Leslie Perez and Claude Jones from getting elected Chair.