Houston City Council runoff election: Buzbee loses to Huffman

Two incumbents and two newcomers won their respective City Council runoffs on Saturday, with District G Councilmember Mary Nan Huffman prevailing in her high-profile contest against attorney Tony Buzbee.

Incumbent Carolyn Evans-Shabazz from District D, Mario Castillo in District H and Willie Davis in At-Large 2 also secured spots on City Council.

Three of the seven races on the ballot remained too close to call with early votes tallied and 38.9% of polling locations reporting.

Huffman’s match-up against Buzbee was perhaps the most high-profile City Council race on the ballot. Buzbee entered the race on the last day to sign up and ran a heated campaign to represent one of the city’s wealthiest and most conservative districts. District G encompasses much of the area between Interstate-10 and Westheimer Road and includes River Oaks and The Galleria.

Huffman said in a statement that she was humbled to have the opportunity to continue serving on City Council.

“The voters in District G know me and know I am a fighter,” she said in a statement.

Huffman, who fell just short of avoiding a runoff after earning 49.4% of the vote in the general election, is the lawyer for the Houston Police Officers Union and ran on a public safety-focused platform. Buzbee previously ran for mayor in 2019 but lost in the runoff to Sylvester Turner. He has represented a number of high-profile clients as a trial attorney, including Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Buzbee said in a statement that he viewed his race against Huffman as an uphill battle, and that he believed his defense of Attorney General Ken Paxton in his impeachment trial was unpopular with some District G residents.

“While we came up short this evening, I’m honored to have had so many grassroots activists from all across District G standing with (his wife) Frances and me as we campaigned in every neighborhood to give people an alternative in their council representation,” Buzbee said in a statement.

Huffman and Evans-Shabazz are among three incumbents on the ballot. Letitia Plummer leads Roy Morales in her bid to retain the At-Large 4 seat. Evans-Shabazz and Plummer each prevailed in runoffs in 2019.

Evans-Shabazz said late Saturday that she was grateful to the voters who elected her to another term.

“I am just totally elated. It was a very difficult race,” she said. “I’m just glad to have it behind me so I can continue to serve the citizens of District D.”

H Town Brewing in Glen Park was crowded with Saturday night visitors and Castillo supporters who watched him win his race against Cynthia Reyes-Revilla.

“I want to thank everybody for the support,” Castillo said. “I really appreciate the trust that I’ve earned from the voters throughout the district.”

Seven City Council races moved to runoffs after failing to see a candidate meet a threshold of 50% plus one vote in the Nov. 7 general election. Each race features the top two vote-getters in the general election.

Nine of the 16 City Council seats were decided last month, with seven incumbents among those who prevailed.

Incumbents have a track record of defending their seats in recent election cycles. In 2019, all eight incumbents on the ballot held onto their seats on election night or in a runoff. In 2015, eight of the nine incumbents on the ballot secured another term.

The results for the four at-large City Council races on Saturday’s ballot include vote totals from 10 polling locations in parts of Houston that are in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties.

Evans-Shabazz leads with 65.4% with early votes tallied and 37.6% of polling locations reporting. McGee trails with 34.6%.

Evans-Shabazz campaigned on her track record in office, telling voters that she established a rapid-response cleanup team for illegal dumping complaints, helped get nuisance homes demolished and secured funding for public safety programs. McGee touted his activism, including his opposition to school closures and an abandoned plan to build a community center on the site of a former landfill in Sunnyside.

Huffman leads with 56.4% with early votes tallied and 37.6% of polling locations reporting. Buzbee follows her with 43.6% of the vote. 

The incumbent councilmember led a shorter term on council than most; she won the seat in a special election in 2022, after former councilmember Greg Travis stepped down to run for a state position.

Both conservatives, Huffman and Buzbee, have gone head-to-head in forums and have split major party endorsements. The Harris County Republican Party, Conservatives of Texas, Republican Party of Texas endorsed Huffman, while four former District G councilmembers still residing in the district and the Houston Professional Firefighters Association endorsed Buzbee. Paxton is also supporting Buzbee, who defended him in his impeachment trial.

Castillo leads with 63% with early votes tallied and 37% of polling locations reporting. Reyes-Revilla trails with 36.6%. Castillo will succeed term-limited councilmember Karla Cisneros on City Council.

Castillo is executive director of the nonprofit Your Houston. Reyes-Revilla is a real estate professional who ran for District H in 2019 and in the Democratic primary for Texas House District 148 in 2020.

Melanie Miles leads with 50.1% with early votes tallied and 38.9% of polling locations reporting. Julian Ramirez trails with 49.9%.

Miles, a family law attorney for over 25 years, and Ramirez, a county prosecutor with over 27 years of experience, finished ahead of four other candidates in the general election to advance to the runoff. Outgoing councilmember Mike Knox is term-limited.

Willie Davis leads with 55.8% with early votes tallied and 38.9% of polling locations reporting. Nick Hellyar trails with 44.2%. Davis will succeed term-limited councilmember David Robinson.

Davis is a pastor who has run for the at-large Position 2 seat twice before, in 2015 and 2019. He pressed Robinson into runoffs both times. Hellyar is a real estate broker with city public service experience. Hellyar ran for at-large position 4 in 2019.

Twila Carter leads with 51.6% with early votes tallied and 38.9% of polling locations reporting. Richard Cantu is at 48.4%. They are vying to succeed term-limited councilmember Michael Kubosh.

Carter, a former executive for the Houston Astros and the Astros Foundation, and Cantu, a board trustee for the Harris County Department of Education, were among nine candidates for the At-Large 3 seat in the Nov. 7 general election.

Plummer, a private-practice dentist, leads with 52.9% with early votes tallied and 38.9% of polling locations reporting. Her opponent Morales, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, is at 47.1%.