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With a crowded slate vying to be the next person to succeed Sylvester Turner as Houston mayor comes hefty war chests, according to a report from Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.
Registered voters in the City of Houston will head to the polls in November and have their pick from at least a half a dozen candidates.
According to KHOU, four mayoral campaigns each raised over $1 million last year, with Chris Hollins, who oversaw the Harris County Clerk’s Office during the hotly contested 2020 general election, leading the pack with $1.6 million.
Trailing the ex-interim Harris County Clerk are veteran state lawmaker John Whitmire, former Houston City Councilmember Amanda Edwards, and attorney Lee Kaplan, who reported $1.3 million in contributions each.
Houston is home to more than 2 million people with a growing electorate that poses a serious challenge to the aspirants for the Bayou City’s highest office, Dr. Brandon Rottinghaus, who teaches political science at the University of Houston (UH), told the station.
“It’s a big city, there are a lot of voters and they’re a lot of new voters,” Rottinghaus said. “That’s a tough nut to crack for campaigns because you’ve got to be able to spend money to get at those voters.”
The professor added that the candidate with the most connections and a firm base is the one to raise the most money.
KHOU reported that Whitmire has $10 million to spare from his other campaign, but there’s a city ordinance that limits how much money he could transfer.
Houston Daily reported that nine people are seeking the mayorship of Texas’ largest city as of Jan. 3.
The field is likely to increase before the Monday, Aug. 21 deadline to file for candidacy.
“There may be others who will get into the race that could be considered to be formidable candidates,” Texas Southern University’s (TSU) Dr. Michael Adams told KPRC, the publication reported.