Our last At Large race, and another one with many candidates. There wasn’t a clear division among the nine contestants here, so I’m presenting them all.
Dist Batteau Garcia Flowers Dick Rivera Bonton Alcorn Woods McNeese
============================================================================
A 654 955 1,232 4,224 1,676 952 2,526 835 1,333
B 1,421 826 1,905 1,206 1,567 2,973 1,068 1,328 1,674
C 1,459 1,502 2,782 7,167 2,769 1,377 14,491 1,852 2,147
D 3,661 1,076 3,588 1,910 1,901 2,385 2,528 1,733 2,130
E 1,275 1,271 1,498 7,117 2,865 1,311 3,966 1,233 1,774
F 553 599 865 1,997 1,165 848 1,172 646 809
G 1,107 939 1,693 7,974 1,821 1,199 9,274 1,237 2,754
H 577 1,718 1,449 1,635 2,459 843 2,574 789 703
I 654 1,661 1,173 1,251 2,277 639 1,369 573 570
J 371 447 585 1,415 865 474 1,034 434 468
K 1,440 910 2,056 2,523 1,729 1,755 3,012 1,250 1,611
A 4.55% 6.64% 8.56% 29.36% 11.65% 6.62% 17.56% 5.80% 9.27%
B 10.17% 5.91% 13.64% 8.63% 11.22% 21.28% 7.65% 9.51% 11.98%
C 4.10% 4.23% 7.83% 20.16% 7.79% 3.87% 40.77% 5.21% 6.04%
D 17.51% 5.15% 17.16% 9.13% 9.09% 11.40% 12.09% 8.29% 10.19%
E 5.71% 5.70% 6.71% 31.90% 12.84% 5.88% 17.78% 5.53% 7.95%
F 6.39% 6.92% 10.00% 23.08% 13.46% 9.80% 13.54% 7.46% 9.35%
G 3.95% 3.35% 6.05% 28.48% 6.50% 4.28% 33.12% 4.42% 9.84%
H 4.53% 13.48% 11.37% 12.83% 19.29% 6.61% 20.19% 6.19% 5.52%
I 6.43% 16.34% 11.54% 12.30% 22.40% 6.29% 13.47% 5.64% 5.61%
J 6.09% 7.34% 9.60% 23.22% 14.20% 7.78% 16.97% 7.12% 7.68%
K 8.84% 5.59% 12.62% 15.49% 10.62% 10.78% 18.49% 7.68% 9.89%
Here again in our hypothetical ranked-choice election world – which by the way would take a change to state law, so if this is something you really want to see happen, I suggest you contact your State Rep and State Senator – of the nine candidates present I’d list no more than two. Of the remaining seven, I only have the barest idea about the two perennials, one of whom is now in the runoff. Having a lot of candidates run is not at all the same as having many good choices.
Sallie Alcorn led in Districts C (by a large margin), G, and H. Her strength in those districts gives her a clear path to victory if she can consolidate the Democratic vote. Like the other Dems in the runoff she has collected the establishment endorsements, and she is running against an actual Republican elected official. Some Dem activists are not on board, however, in part because she has collected some endorsements from conservative groups like the Houston Realty Business Coalition, and in part because of some hard feelings from the GLBT Political Caucus endorsing her over Ashton Woods. I have no idea how much to make of that.
You don’t need me to tell you about Eric Dick, but I will anyway. This is his fourth run for city office – he ran for At Large #2 in 2011, for Mayor in 2013, for At Large #2 again in 2015, and now this. He was elected to the HCDE in Precinct 4 in 2016, and has been adjacent to some scandals. He littered the town with his yard signs in 2011, hilariously and dishonestly claiming that all the ones that had been illegally placed on utility poles were the work of overzealous volunteers, and made crude sexual jokes about Mayor Annise Parker. After his initial campaign, ads for his law firm became a fixture on the back page of the Houston Press (RIP), and just the other day I saw a brief ad for his firm – not his campaign, because he’d have to report those expenditures – on TV. In other words, whether you ever wanted to or not, you have probably heard of Eric Dick. He led the way in Districts A, E, F, and J, and I have no doubt that helped him. His name and the fact that despite being an actual elected Republican official he’s not closely identified with the Republican Party are his two best assets in the runoff.
Beyond that, what is there to say? Michele Bonton carried District B, perennial candidate Brad Batteau carried D, with Catherine Flowers right behind him, and Sonia Rivera carried I. None of them raised any money, and one presumes their voters are gettable. Alcorn has funding and endorsements, including the Chron – my interview with her is here in case you want to give it a spin – and Dick has himself. We’ll see what happens.