Daisy Espinoza/Houston Public Media
Pictured is Houston City Hall.
Despite city council and mayoral elections being two years away, Houston voters will have an opportunity to choose one new council member in November.
The opening comes as at-large city council member Letitia Plummer runs to replace Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo — a fellow Democrat who still hasn’t said whether she plans to run for a third term, despite promising a decision within “a couple more weeks” on July 2. Plummer will vacate one of five at-large positions on the 16-person council, and all Houston voters will have a say in her replacement.
It’s not the only special election slated for November. The death of U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who previously served as Houston mayor, left a vacancy in Texas’ 18th Congressional District. It stretches from near the southern end of Loop 610 through downtown to the northeast and northwest and also covers the area north of Beltway 8.
“There, turnout should be significantly higher, and that provides a real advantage to any city of Houston council candidate running citywide who has a strong base of support within the boundaries of congressional district 18,” said political scientist Mark Jones with Rice University.
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Jones pointed in particular to former city council member Dwight Boykins, who previously represented the overlapping District D in south Houston from 2014 through 2018. Boykins announced his candidacy to replace Plummer in July, as did business owner Al Lloyd, attorney Alejandra Salinas and previous city council candidate Obes Nwabara, who garnered about 8% of the vote in a 2023 at-large race ultimately won by Willie Davis.
Plummer told Houston Public Media she hopes her replacement will continue her work on an ordinance that would ramp up inspections of problematic apartment complexes, push to address a cancer cluster around the Union Pacific railyard in the Fifth Ward and maintain adequate funding for the Houston Police Department’s mental health-focused teams.
“I’m really hoping that the person who takes my position owns these initiatives, and makes sure that they stay alive and they really continue to be a part of the fabric of the city of Houston,” Plummer said.
She also hopes her replacement maintains the diversity of the at-large contingent on the city council.
“My seat has historically been a seat that’s been represented by a person of color, primarily African Americans,” Plummer said. “And so I do believe, you know, having some diversity on those at-large seats is something that’s really going to be important.”
Jones said he expects turnout to be low for the special election in November and a likely runoff election in December, especially because a runoff between the two top candidates would occur before a separate runoff for the 18th Congressional District.
“I would expect a relatively robust field of high-quality candidates who are competing for this position with twin goals,” Jones said. “First, getting one of those two positions in the runoff, and then going into a head-to-head election that will have very different dynamics, because while turnout is going to be low in November — somewhere in the low teens — in this race in December for the runoff, it’s going to be hard pressed to eclipse 5%.”
Prospective candidates have until Sept. 3 to file ballot applications with the city.