Both Major Political Parties in Harris County Must Do Better By Way of Energizing Their Base in the Upcoming 2020 Presidential Election
AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©
An 18.67% turnout for the City of Houston runoff election is a BIG PROBLEM. In my opinion, both major political parties in Harris County, Texas displayed an inability to rally their base as only 202,774 of the more than 1,085,813 registered Houstonians chose to even cast a ballot in the City of Houston runoff election. Remember, there won’t be any straight-ticket voting in 2020 – that’s a thing of the past, and a story for another day. However, in case you don't know, Democrats had a pretty good night on Saturday, December 14, 2019, in the runoff election. Mayor Sylvester Turner (Democrat) won his bid for re-election over Tony Buzbee (Independent). However, while Mayor Turner's victory wasn’t by 20 percentage points like the pollsters predicted, it was by a substantial margin of victory nonetheless. In a romp, Mayor Turner cruised to victory by 12 percentage points over his rival Tony Buzbee. Letitia Plummer, Sallie Alcorn, David W. Robinson, Tiffany D. Thomas, and Monica Flores Richart were also all endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party and won. However, Raj Salhotra and Janaeya Carmouche were not so lucky in their quest to unseat Councilman Mike Knox, a Republican who was endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party, or Councilman Michael Kubosh, who is another Republican who was endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party. Being able to help Councilman Knox and Councilman Kubosh win their re-election bids was a major victory for the Harris County Republican Party on several different levels going forward. That being said, other conservatives like Anthony Dolcefino and Eric Dick, had a tough time gaining traction in these runoffs. But Dolcefino put on a very strong showing in his first bid for public office by only losing to his Democratic rival Letitia Plummer by a mere 3 percentage points. As for Willie R. Davis, he never gained any traction and lost by a wider margin to Councilman David W. Robinson than he did in their last meeting back in 2015. And as for Amy Peck, she rolled to a resounding victory in the Houston City Council District A runoff race over a fellow Republican -- just as expected.
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
Mayor Sylvester Turner Won the Race for Mayor; Three of the Five At-Large Council Races Were Won by Democrats; Councilman Knox and Councilman Kubosh Two Conservatives, Both Won Their Re-election Bids
AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©
The polls predicted that Tony Buzbee would lose his bid to unseat Mayor Sylvester Turner by 20 percentage points, and they were wrong -- there's a big difference between a 20% loss and 12% loss if you ask me. According to the “UNOFFICIAL” election night report tallies put forth by the Harris County Clerk’s office, Mayor Turner won his bid for re-election by about 12 percentage points. In case you’re wondering, Mayor Sylvester Turner received 112,955 votes, for 56.04% of the vote. And as for Tony Buzbee, not being fully embraced by either major political party in what was supposed to be a non-partisan election really hurt his chances, and when I say hurt, I do mean hurt. Tony Buzbee only received 88,596 votes, for 43.96% of the vote. So, while Buzbee did far better than the polls predicted, he just simply could not overcome the fact that he wasn't fully embraced by either major political party.
BUZBEE VERSUS TURNER
Make no mistake about it, the Saturday, December 14, 2019, runoff election was a tale of two political parties doing battle as they ready themselves to head into one of the most contentious “PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION” the United States of America has ever seen. So, how did candidates endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party do on Election Night? I’m glad you asked. The Harris County Democratic Party endorsed Mayor Sylvester Turner (Democrat) in his re-election bid against Tony Buzbee (Independent). Mayor Turner beat Tony Buzbee by garnering 112,955 votes, for 56.04% of the vote, while Tony Buzbee could only muster 88,596 votes for 43.96% of the vote. So, the Harris County Democratic Party endorsement helped Mayor Sylvester Turner win his re-election bid by approximately 12 percentage points.
SALHOTRA VERSUS KNOX
For Raj Salhotra (Democrat), being endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party didn’t help him much at all in his quest to unseat Councilman Mike Knox (Republican), on Saturday, December 14, 2019. So, the Harris County Republican Party won the battle over the Harris County Democratic Party in the Houston City Council At-Large Position 1 runoff race. Councilman Mike Knox received 99,354 votes for 56.48% of the vote. As for Raj Salhotra, he could only muster 76,559 votes for 43.52% of the vote in his quest to unseat Councilman Mike Knox. So, the Harris County Republican Party helped Councilman Mike Knox win his re-election bid by approximately 12 percentage points.
ROBINSON VERSUS DAVIS
For Councilman David W. Robinson (Democrat), being endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party helped him substantially in his quest to hold off his Republican challenger on Saturday, December 14, 2019. So, the race for Houston City Council At-Large Position 2 went exactly the way the Harris County Democratic Party hoped it would. Councilman David W. Robinson received 97,670 votes, for 59.30% of the vote. As for Willie R. Davis (Republican), he could only muster 67,040 votes, for 40.70% of the vote. So, the Harris County Democratic Party helped Councilman David W. Robinson win his re-election bid by approximately 18 percentage points.
KUBOSH VERSUS CARMOUCHE
For Councilman Michael Kubosh (Republican), being endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party helped him substantially in his quest to hold off his Democratic challenger on Saturday, December 14, 2019. So, the race for Houston City Council At-Large Position 3 went exactly the way the Harris County Republican Party hoped it would. Councilman Michael Kubosh received 103,676 votes, for 61.30% of the vote. As for his Janaeya Carmouche (Democrat), being endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party didn’t help her much as she came up well short of unseating Councilman Kubosh. In the end, Janaeya Carmouche only received 65,464 votes, for 38.70% of the vote. So, the Harris County Republican Party helped Councilman Michael Kubosh win his re-election bid by approximately 22 percentage points.
DOLCEFINO VERSUS PLUMMER
For Letitia Plummer (Democrat), being endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party helped her a great deal in her quest to defeat Anthony Dolcefino, her Republican rival. Letitia Plummer received 88,295 votes, for 51.85% of the vote. As for Anthony Dolcefino (Republican), he received 81,990 votes, for 48.15% of the vote. So, the Harris County Democratic Party helped Letitia Plummer win her bid to become a Houston City Council Member over her Republican rival by approximately 3 percentage points.
SALLIE ALCORN VERSUS ERIC DICK
For Sallie Alcorn (Democrat), being endorsed by the Harris County Democratic Party helped her a great deal in her quest to defeat Eric Dick, her Republican rival. Sallie Alcorn received 90,235 votes, for 52.84% of the vote. As for Eric Dick (Republican), he received 80,533 votes, for 47.16% of the vote. So, the Harris County Democratic Party helped Sallie Alcorn win her bid to become a Houston City Council Member over her Republican rival by approximately 5 percentage points.
OTHER RUNOFF RACES
In the runoff race for Houston City Council District A, you had two Republicans running against one another. Amy Peck beat her fellow Republican George Harry Zoes by gaining 70.18% of the vote to Zoes’ 29.92% of the vote. In the runoff race for Houston City Council District C, you had two Democrats running against one another. Abbie Kamin beat her fellow Democrat Shelley Kennedy by gaining 59.42% of the vote to Kennedy’s 40.58% of the vote. In the runoff race for Houston City Council District D, you had two Democrats running against one another. Carolyn Evans-Shabazz beat her fellow Democrat Brad “Scarface” Jordan by gaining 62.16% of the vote to Jordan’s 37.84% percent of the vote. In the race for Houston City Council District F, you had a Democrat and a Republican running against one another. Tiffany D. Thomas the Democrat got the better of Van Huynh the Republican in the District F runoff race. Tiffany D. Thomas gained 55.99% of the vote to Hynh’s 44.01% of the vote. In the runoff race for Houston City Council District H, you had two Democrats running against one another. Councilwoman Karla Cisneros held off her fellow Democrat Isabel Longoria to win her re-election bid in the race for District H. Councilwoman Cisneros received 50.06% of the vote, to Longoria’s 49.94% of the vote. In the race for Houston City Council District J, you had two Democrats running against one another. Edward Pollard got the better of Sandra Rodriguez by gaining 57.96% of the vote, to Rodriguez’ 42.04% of the vote. In the HCC Position #1 runoff race, Monica Flores Richart a Democrat, defeated Dave Wilson, a Republican. In the HCC Position #2 runoff race, Rhonda Skillern Jones rolled to victory over her fellow Democrat Kathy Lynch-Gunter. In the HISD Position #2 runoff race, Kathy Blueford-Daniels rolled to victory over her fellow Democrat John Curtis Gibbs. In the HISD Position #4 runoff race, Patricia K. Allen rolled to victory over her fellow Democrat Matt Barnes by a pretty substantial margin.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Both major political parties have a lot of work to do in terms of getting ready for the upcoming Democratic and Republican primaries slated for Tuesday, March 3, 2020, in Harris County, Texas. Early voting for the primaries will begin on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, and end on Friday, February 28, 2020. While both major political parties are going to perhaps claim victory in these runoffs, but let’s not forget that there were 1,085,813 registered voters eligible to cast a ballot in the Saturday, December 14, 2019, runoff election, but only 202,774 Houstonians chose to do so – and that’s a BIG PROBLEM that will need to be addressed by both major political parties in the very near future.
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
HOUSTON BUSINESS CONNECTIONS NEWSPAPER© IS BECOMING THE MOST DIVERSE NON-PARTISAN PUBLICATION IN AMERICA
Aubrey R. Taylor is the President/CEO of Aubrey R. Taylor Communications, the publisher of Houston Business Connections Newspaper©. Taylor has more than 29-years of experience in marketing, branding, investigative reporting, public relations, opposition research, and political consulting. He’s assisted in branding Republican and Democratic candidates in statewide elections and in local municipalities throughout the State of Texas. Over the years, he’s also assisted in branding and marketing (through his various publications) such corporations and institutions as Shell Oil, The City of Houston, Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, Chevron, Waste Management, Nationwide Insurance, Momentum Jaguar/BMW, Channel 11, Channel 13, State Farm Insurance, and Allstate Insurance to name a few.
THE 2020 PRIMARIES ARE COMING TO HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS ON TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2020
It is incumbent upon us to start thinking about the upcoming Tuesday, March 3, 2020, Primaries. Early voting for the Tuesday, March 3, 2020, Primaries in the State of Texas will begin on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, and end on Friday, February 28, 2020.
It is incumbent upon us to start thinking about the upcoming Tuesday, March 3, 2020, Primaries. Early voting for the Tuesday, March 3, 2020, Primaries in the State of Texas will begin on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, and end on Friday, February 28, 2020.
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
"Let's make it our business to support duly-qualified candidates who value, respect, and appreciate our vote and support in every election."
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
