Kathryn Jean Whitmire is an American politician, businesswoman, and accountant best known as the first woman to serve as Mayor of Houston, serving for five consecutive two-year terms from 1982 to 1992. From 1977 to 1981, she was the city controller, a position which made her the first woman elected to any office in the city. Whitmire drew national attention when she defeated former Harris County Sheriff Jack Heard in her election as mayor. The election drew national focus because it symbolized a major political realignment in the fourth-largest city in the United States.
Annise Danette Parker is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller from 2004 to 2010.
The 2010 Texas gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry ran successfully for election to a third consecutive term. He won the Republican primary against U.S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and political newcomer, Debra Medina. The former mayor of Houston, Bill White, won the Democratic nomination. Kathie Glass, a lawyer from Houston and previous candidate for Texas Attorney General, won the Libertarian nomination. Deb Shafto was the nominee of the Texas Green Party. Andy Barron, an orthodontist from Lubbock, was a declared write-in candidate.
The Houston mayoral election of 2009 took place on November 3, 2009, to elect the successor to incumbent Mayor Bill White. White was ineligible for re-election, having served three terms. The race is officially nonpartisan. After no candidate received a majority of the votes, the top two candidates – City Controller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke – faced each other in a runoff election on December 12, 2009. On November 11, councilman Peter Brown publicly endorsed Parker in the Mayor's race. Annise Parker won the run-off.
The 2001 Houston mayoral election took place on November 6, 2001. Incumbent Mayor Lee Brown was re-elected to a third term. Officially the race was non-partisan. None of the candidates received a majority of the votes, so a run-off election was held on December 1, 2001.
The 2009 Houston elections took place on May 9, June 12, and November 3, 2009. All City Council Posts, the City Controller, and the Mayor all had elections. All positions are non-partisan.
Jarvis Diallo Johnson is an American entrepreneur and politician currently serving in the Texas House of Representatives. A Democrat, he has represented the 139th district since 2016 and previously served on the Houston City Council.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate. Incumbent Republican senator and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn ran for re-election to a third term. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Since no Democratic candidate received over 50% in the first round of the primary, a runoff election was required on May 27, 2014. David Alameel, who came in first in the primary, won the runoff and became his party's nominee. In the general election, Cornyn defeated Alameel in a landslide.
The 2014 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry, who had served since the resignation of then-Governor George W. Bush on December 21, 2000, declined to run for an unprecedented fourth full term, making this the first open election for governor of the state since 1990.
The Houston mayoral election of 2013 took place on November 5, 2013. The incumbent Mayor Annise Parker was re-elected to a third, and final, two-year term in office.
Sylvester Turner is an American attorney and politician who was the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 2016. He attended the University of Houston and Harvard Law School. Turner ran for mayor of Houston in 1991, losing in the runoff election to Bob Lanier. He lost again in 2003, coming in third and thus missing the runoff.
Masrur Javed "M.J." Khan is a Pakistani American and former Houston City Council member.
The 2017 Atlanta mayoral election occurred on November 7, 2017, with a runoff election held on December 5, 2017. Incumbent mayor Kasim Reed, a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 2010, was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
The 2015 Nashville mayoral election took place on August 6, 2015, to elect the next mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Karl Dean was term limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office. Since there was no candidate that received a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a runoff election was held. In the runoff election, Democratic candidate Megan Barry was elected with 54.8% of the vote, defeating Republican Candidate David Fox.
Proposition 1 was a referendum held on November 3, 2015, on the anti-discrimination ordinance known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The ordinance was intended to improve anti-discrimination coverage based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Houston, specifically in areas such as housing and occupation where no anti-discrimination policy existed. Proposition 1 asked voters whether they approved HERO. Houston voters rejected Proposal 1 by a vote of 61% to 39%.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member to the United States Senate to represent the State of Texas, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn won re-election to a fourth term against Democratic nominee MJ Hegar by 9.6%.
The 2019 Houston mayoral election was decided by a runoff that took place on December 14, 2019 to elect the Mayor of Houston. Incumbent mayor Sylvester Turner defeated attorney Tony Buzbee in the runoff by 56.04% to 43.96%. No candidate won a majority of the vote during the general election on November 5, 2019 where Turner received 46% of the vote and Buzbee received 29%.
Christopher George Hollins is an American attorney and politician who is the City Controller of Houston. He previously served as interim Harris County Clerk from June 2020 to November 2020. He is known for overseeing the 2020 United States presidential election in Harris County; many of his policies received resistance from state Republican officials.
The 2023 Houston mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, with a runoff on December 9 because no candidate won a majority of the vote in the first round. It was held to elect the mayor of Houston, Texas. Incumbent Democratic mayor Sylvester Turner was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. Municipal elections in Texas are officially nonpartisan.
Erica Shelwyn Lee Carter is an American politician from the Democratic Party who is serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 18th congressional district. The daughter of U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, she worked as a teacher and quality coordinator before entering politics, serving on the Harris County Department of Education from 2013 to 2019. In 2016, she ran to replace State Representative Borris Miles but lost when precinct chairs selected Shawn Thierry. After her mother's death in 2024, she initially endorsed Sylvester Turner to succeed Jackson Lee in both the special and general elections. However, she later announced her candidacy for the special election to finish her mother’s term, with Turner withdrawing and endorsing her.
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