The 2015 Houston mayoral election was decided by a runoff that took place on December 12, 2015, to elect the
Mayor of
Houston,
Texas. As no candidate won a majority of the vote during the general election on November 3, 2015, the run off was held between the top two finishers,
Sylvester Turner, who received 31.31% of the vote, and Bill King, who received 25.27%. In the run-off, Turner edged King, 51% to 49%, to become the 62nd Mayor of Houston.
Thirteen candidates appeared on the November ballot. A poll of likely voters conducted in June revealed that half of the city's likely voters were undecided, and that three of the candidates included in the poll, Sylvester Turner, Adrian Garcia and Chris Bell (all of whom were Democrats) were within the margin of error of the top two spots. However, the final results were significantly different from the early polling, with Independent King claiming the second runoff spot along with Turner.
Mayoral elections in Houston are biennial, with the winner being sworn-in in the following January for a four-year term. The election is officially nonpartisan, although the political parties still support and endorse candidates.
With the passage of voter-approved Proposition 2, the Mayor began a four-year term effective in January 2016.
Incumbent Mayor
Annise Parker, a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
who had been in office since 2010, was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a fourth term in office.
During the month between the general election and the runoff, Bell endorsed King, while Parker and Garcia, as well as then-U.S. President
Barack Obama, endorsed Turner.
Candidates
Democratic Party
Declared
*
Chris Bell, former U.S. Representative, former
Houston City Council member, candidate for Mayor in
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
and nominee for
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
in
2006
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[
* Ben Hall, attorney, former Houston City Attorney and candidate for Mayor in ]2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
[
* Sylvester Turner, State Representative and candidate for Mayor in ]1991
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and 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
and former Houston City Councilmember[
* Marty McVey, private equity executive][
* Andrew Wood, ISA
]
Declined
* Clarence Bradford, Houston City Councilmember and former Chief of the Houston Police DepartmentBun B.
Bernard James Freeman (born March 19, 1973), known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK (UnderGround Kingz), a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with ...
, rapper and political activist[
]
Republican Party
Declared
* Stephen Costello, Houston City Councilmember
Withdrawn
* Oliver Pennington, Houston City Councilmember
Declined
* Jack Christie, Houston City Councilmember[
* Laura Murillo, President and CEO of the Houston Hispanic ]Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
Polling
General election
''Held November 3, 2015 -- 50% needed to avoid runoff''
''Held December 12, 2015''
See also
* Politics of Houston
* Houston City Council
Notes
References
External links
Torn on the Bayou: What the chaotic mayor's race can tell us about Houston's future
{{2015 United States elections
Mayoral election, 2015
Houston mayoral
Houston
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
Non-partisan elections