Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media
FILE – Houston Mayor John Whitmire at City Hall on May 8, 2024.
Parallel efforts to admonish and recall Houston Mayor John Whitmire face steep uphill climbs as both initiatives have gained trickles of support in the months since their announcement.
In April, a group of 30 Democratic precinct chairs launched a resolution to formally admonish Whitmire over his participation in a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican. Precinct chair Cameron “Coach Cam” Campbell told Houston Public Media the effort is now supported by 64 members — out of nearly 600 precinct chairs in the Harris County Democratic Party.
“We’re not making microwave popcorn. We are cooking gumbo,” Campbell said. “You gotta take your time and cook gumbo, bro. And the slower you cook it, the lower you cook it, the better it tastes.”
The group is also pushing for a change to party rules that would prohibit Democratic candidates from endorsing, fundraising or appearing in political advertising for Republican or Republican-endorsed candidates.
“Every single penny that he raises for a Republican is ultimately money used to defeat a Democrat,” Campbell said. “And, you know, where I’m from, bro, that’s called treason. And folks who are treasonous are forced to walk the plank.”
A spokesperson for the party said “as of now, no resolutions have been formally introduced” for consideration by committees. Campbell promised an update on the committee process “in the very near future.”
Separately, Recall for Houston — a group formed more than a year ago aiming to recall Whitmire — announced a timeline for its drive to collect petition signatures. At some point in the fall, the group will aim to gather more than 60,000 signatures within 30 days in an effort to put a recall election on the ballot ahead of the May 2026 election.
“Whitmire ran on a platform of data-driven safety efforts and also transparency, and his administration has been the exact opposite,” said recall organizer Alejandro Alegria, pointing to the reversal of traffic safety measures on Houston Avenue and the removal of similar elements from upcoming projects like the Montrose Boulevard redesign.
Echoing the precinct chairs’ concerns about Whitmire’s attendance of Crenshaw’s fundraiser and pointing to tensions with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Alegria argued Whitmire is “more willing to work with noted Republicans versus members of his own party.”
Alegria said the group had raised more than $1,500 of its $100,000 goal. It aims to hire canvassers and in-house notaries for the 30-day signature collection sprint.
In response to questions about the parallel pushes against Whitmire, a spokesperson for the mayor said “this is a silly effort led by people who have not gotten over the last campaign.”
“The mayor is pleased with the broad support he receives from all Houstonians,” the spokesperson wrote. “He frequently attends democratic events to introduce candidates and local office holders. The mayor’s primary focus is collaborating with those who can help him address the challenges and secure resources that will benefit all Houstonians.”
Rob Salinas/Houston Public Media
Houston Mayor John Whitmire, center, waves to a crowd gathered for the Houston Art Car Parade on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
According to a survey released by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs in April, 59% of respondents approved of Whitmire’s work in office, while 41% of respondents disapproved.
Whitmire’s warm relationship with state-level Republicans helped secure more than $30 million for debris removal in the aftermath of the derecho windstorm and Hurricane Beryl in 2024, and this week he welcomed U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner — a member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet — as part of an event highlighting $315 million in federal funding awarded under President Joe Biden to recover from those disasters.
Whitmire’s administration also highlighted more than $200 million in direct appropriations from the Republican-controlled state legislature for parks, water infrastructure and public safety.
“In all my time in public service, this has been the most successful legislative session for the City of Houston,” Whitmire said Wednesday. “At the end of the day, Houstonians will benefit for years to come. My administration will continue to focus on quality of life issues while prioritizing infrastructure and public safety.”
The effort to formally admonish Whitmire within the Harris County Democratic Party is “like a snowball that’s rolling downhill in a desert,” said political scientist Mark Jones with Rice University. “Thirty precinct chairs is a drop in the bucket — that’s a small minority of a group that already is a small minority of the Democratic primary electorate.
“The censure is probably something that’s of least relevance because that, from a practical perspective, means nothing,” Jones added. “And I think Mayor Whitmire is very comfortable holding his position in the Democratic party that’s more in the center than on the left.”
While the recall push faces a steep hurdle to collect signatures, Jones said the effort “becomes potentially more troubling simply because it’s a distraction.”
“If they actually get the signatures, that means he needs to spend a large part of 2026 during the first semester focused on his recall election rather than on governing,” Jones said. “So the spring of 2026, instead of it being business as usual, would involve an organized group actively attacking the mayor and attempting to bring down his approval ratings and bring down his favorability ratings. And that’s not helpful for a mayor if you’re trying to seek reelection in 2027.”
Charter amendments in the city of Houston — like Propositions A and B, which after approval in 2023 respectively gave city council more power and called for the city to have more representation in a regional planning group — require 20,000 signatures over 180 days. Prop B met that threshold with 23,665 verified signatures, while Prop A gained 20,482 verified signatures. Efforts to recall elected officials face a higher bar — 63,191 signatures, or 25% of the total votes cast for mayor in the last election, within 30 days.