Not based on this, anyway.
Chris Hollins
City Controller Chris Hollins sent the strongest signal yet on Wednesday that he could launch a challenge against Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s bid for a second term in 2027.
Hollins, the city’s second-highest-ranking elected official, swiped at Whitmire during remarks at a press event in Dallas, where he appeared with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as part of Democrats’ pushback against the ongoing midterm Republican National Convention.
While much of Hollins’ short speech was aimed at boosting statewide Democratic candidates, including James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, he named Whitmire, who he has long clashed with over city finances and other issues, on a list of officials he hoped would be soon unseated.
“We have folks who will do anything that they can to be the lapdog or the doormat of this demented, incompetent tyrant,” Hollins said, referring to President Donald Trump. “We’re stuck for now, for just a couple more days, with Greg Abbott, with Ken Paxton.
“We’re stuck for a little bit longer with Ted Cruz, with (Dallas Mayor) Eric Johnson, with John Whitmire,” Hollins continued. “But the day for change is coming.”
Hollins did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. In a statement, Whitmire called the controller’s remarks “silly politics that I do not have time for.”
I say that I don’t believe Hollins is running for Mayor in 2027 for the simple reason that he’s not been raising money like someone who wants to run for Mayor in that short timeframe. CM Ed Pollard is clearly running for Mayor, and I believe Controller Hollins very reasonably thinks that there isn’t enough room for a third candidate. I also believe that maybe a day after the 2027 Mayoral election is concluded, with Mayor Whitmire very likely being elected to a second term, Hollins very reasonably thinks he will be christened as The Frontrunner for 2031, for a multitude of obvious reasons. And, again very reasonably, he thinks his odds will be better in 2031 in an open field against however many as-yet unknowns (sorry, but even I have no interest in speculating about who else could be running at this time) than they would next year against Mayor Whitmire, who is (until proven otherwise) still broadly popular even if the people who dislike him do so with a much greater fervor now than they did initially.
That’s how I see it, anyway. Hollins could of course prove me wrong anytime. Until then, I think this was just a bit of sniping, not even really escalatory in my view. Make of it what you will.
Pollard will run for Controller if/ when Hollins runs for mayor.