Houston’s mayoral elections, taking place on November 5th, present a crucial choice in representation for the people of Greater Houston. Incumbent leader Sylvester Turner is facing 4 major opponents for his seat, whom he met on a debate stage on Friday, October 11th.

Turner faced harsh criticism from his opponents regarding a recent news report from KPRC 2, which broke the news that Turner had spent hired an intern named Marvin Agumagu for a yearly salary of 95,000. This hiring has spurred accusations of favorable treatment by some, with candidate Tony Buzbee commenting “”When we have a mayor that creates a position for an intern, we don’t know why he did this, $95,000 for an intern, we have a problem”.

The Candidates

Sylvester Turner, the incumbent mayor, assumed office in 2016 after slimly defeating Bill King. He is running on a nonpartisan platform and is focusing on flood recovery, Rebuild Houston, and implementation of his “Complete Communities” initiative (which is a program focused on building communities with affordable housing, retail options, suitable infrastructure, schools, and transit options). Turner was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1988 for house district 139 and attended the University of Houston and Harvard Law School. 

Dwight Boykins, a district D city representative, is also running on a non-partisan platform. Boykins is a graduate of HISD Public Schools and attended Texas Southern University to gain an MBA in marketing. Boykins is running on a platform of public safety, infrastructure, and job creation. He has faced controversy over comments allegedly made to students at a youth leadership conference. Boykins allegedly told the group of students to “keep their legs closed” as well as joked about dating a female student. In response, the Boykins campaign has issued a statement apologising for any discomfort or hurt he had caused, saying “During the discussion, I shared my perspective on life and the importance of staying focused while avoiding some of the pitfalls that far too often plague many of our youth, a message I have delivered to groups around the city…to anyone who may have taken offense by what I said, I apologize”.

Bill King, a former mayor of Kemah, is running again after a narrow loss to Turner in the 2015 elections. He is also running under a non-partisan platform, focusing on “cleaning up corruption” in city hall as well as promoting Houston infrastructure. King grew up in Clearlake and attended the University of Houston for his undergraduate and law degrees. 

Tony Buzbee, an independent candidate, is campaigning for the first time for the mayor of Houston. He attended Texas A&M University and joined the Marines, going on to complete a law degree at the University of Houston in 1997. Buzbee is focusing on ending corruption and enforcing decisions made in Prop B. Buzbee has gained popular attention for bringing manure to a press conference to make a statement about $6.7 million paid to Mayor Turner’s former law firm during his time in office, as well as Turner’s acceptance of large campaign donations. 

Sue Lovell, a former Houston City Council member at large and Vice Mayor Pro Tem, is running on a platform of increasing effective transportation and LGBT+ advocacy. Lovell is a liberal candidate, and sides with the firefighters on proposition B.