Houston Mayoral Front Runners Have Similar Stances on Real Estate

Houston’s mayoral race is in a dead-heat between frontrunners U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Texas state Sen. John Whitmire. Jackson Lee and Whitmire are expected to beat out 16 other candidates and will likely go head-to-head in a runoff election.

Whitmire has secured the support of every major real estate organization in Houston including HAR, the Houston Building Owners and Managers Association and the Greater Houston Builders Association.

Jackson Lee is running on similar real estate policies, as housing and permitting reforms have broad support around the city.

Houston residents overwhelmingly support the city offering down payment assistance to low-income homebuyers, according to a Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research survey. Paying private developers to build affordable multifamily projects, and altering the current rules that restrict the city’s ability to raise property taxes received support from over 60 percent of respondents to that survey.

“A lot of big ideas are being tossed around like permitting reform, down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, additional housing for homeless, potential property tax reductions,” said Suzy Pittman, Compass realtor. “But when some financial realities set in, it will be interesting to see what they are actually able to accomplish.”

What animates Whitmire’s outsized support among real estate insiders is his track record, personality and bipartisan appeal.

“Builders and developers in the Houston area need consistency in regulatory oversight in order to provide quality homes and communities … Whitmire has a track record of working with our industry and has been very receptive to ideas to help reduce the cost of housing,” said Mike Dishberger, owner of Sandcastle Homes and president of the GHBA. “His interest in expediting permitting and in innovating in homeless services are particularly appealing to those who want to see our community grow.”

Jackson Lee, a progressive firebrand, has vowed to stand up to “MAGA Republicans,” the Texas Tribune reported. She has endorsements from big-name Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, and Hillary Clinton made a campaign appearance last week to bolster support for the 14-term congresswoman.

Jackson Lee has outlined plans promising a boom of residential developments via streamlining the permitting process in an attempt to drive down the city’s ballooning housing costs.

For all of the praise of Whitmire, also a Democrat, little of it is relegated to policy or differentiating politics. Instead, his status as a bipartisan deal-maker is exalted. Supporters hope he will halt some of the tensions between Houston and the Republican-led state government.

“Senator Whitmire has a long history of working with people on all sides of the issues and reaching a reasonable consensus,” said Marsha Fisk, HAR political affairs co-chair. “He has worked with realtors for many years on infrastructure and HOA reform.”

The latest University of Houston poll shows Whitmire leading with 34 percent of likely voters signaling their support for the senator. Meanwhile, Jackson Lee slightly trails behind with 31 percent. No other candidate reaches double-digit support, but 22 percent of likely voters declare they are undecided.

In the likely event of a runoff election, which is held if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes, polling shows Whitmire would beat Jackson Lee by 14 percentage points, due to his dominance among Republican voters.

Whitmire has far outspent every other candidate. His total campaign spending has surpassed the $9 million mark, and his campaign has spent more than $2.7 million on advertising alone.

Meanwhile, Jackson Lee had spent nearly $1.1 million by the end of October.

The size and scale of Whitmire’s campaign spending have raised eyebrows. Jackson Lee and another mayoral hopeful, Gilbert Garcia, have requested the city attorney investigate Whitmire’s contributions, citing potential limit violations and questions regarding the ethics of deploying the career politician’s $10 million war chest in a mayoral race.

Still, all eyes are on Houston to see how this financial dominance translates into electoral success.

Today is the last day of early voting; polls close at 7 p.m. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. The runoff election will be Dec. 9.