Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s political party of more than five decades admonished him on Sunday — barring the lifelong Democrat from receiving its endorsement in the future, according to multiple local precinct chairs who attended the meeting where a vote was held.
A progressive group within the Harris County Democratic Party pushed through the measure nearly eight months after Whitmire, who was a longtime state lawmaker before being elected mayor, attended a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican.
“Actions have ramifications,” said Cameron “Coach Cam” Campbell, one of the precinct chairs who championed the measure. “You boast on being a 50-year elected Democrat, and you wait until you’re finally in a nonpartisan seat to show your tail. Pack light.”
The move was largely symbolic. The party did not make an endorsement in the 2023 mayoral race because there were multiple Democratic candidates running for the nonpartisan position. If the same pattern holds true in 2027, the party would not make an endorsement regardless of the measure approved Sunday.
Still, the result marked a stinging political defeat for a relatively popular mayor as 186 precinct chairs voted in favor of the reprimand, with 80 voting against.
In a statement Sunday night, Whitmire thanked his “many supporters” and said the resolution “changes nothing,” including his “50-year record of voting and supporting Democratic values.”
“I will continue to fight for Houstonians and work with colleagues across the political spectrum to deliver results, move our city forward, and stay focused on the issues that matter most to Houstonians,” he added.
But the admonishment by his own party could have an impact on Whitmire’s reelection bid in 2027, according to Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
“This definitely kind of opens the door to a more progressive challenger to the mayor,” Rottinghaus said. “That’ll shake out in ways we’re not sure — depends on the money, depends on the atmosphere, depends on the candidates — so just lots of unknowns. But I think this does probably make it clear that the mayor will have a strong progressive challenge.”
In the runup to Sunday’s vote, Whitmire — who earlier this year enjoyed a 59% approval rating among registered voters — fought back against the resolution. His campaign on Friday afternoon released a list of nearly 50 supporters from within the Democratic party, including local elected officials and precinct chairs, leaders of labor unions and civil rights groups, and a church pastor. He also appealed for additional signatures in a social media post on Saturday.
A news release from the campaign that accompanied the list, which included U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher and state Sen. Carol Alvarado, said the Whitmire supporters expressed “strong opposition” to an admonishment “they believe is divisive and counterproductive.”
Fred Woods, a Harris County Democratic Party precinct chair and community activist in Northeast Houston, signed onto the list along with more than two dozen other precinct chairs.
He told Houston Public Media he opposed the “silly” resolution because “we’ve already seen some fractures” in the party — pointing specifically to the defection of former Democratic state representative Shawn Thierry to the Republican party. She fell short in a Democratic primary following her votes in 2023 to ban gender-affirming care for minors, to bar certain books from school libraries and to prohibit college athletes from competing on teams that do not align with their sex at birth.
“When we do things like this, it makes people feel like they are not a part of the party,” Woods said. “We want a strong party. We want a united front, and we want to work together for the benefit of all of the citizens of Texas, Harris County and the city of Houston, and so I just can’t see how this makes us any stronger. Resolutions like this do not make us a strong party.”
Push by progressives
In the months leading up to the vote, the Progressive Caucus of the Harris County Democratic Party pushed hard for the reprimand, whipping precinct chair votes and establishing a public narrative about Whitmire as a right-of-center political figure.
Karthik Soora, a member of the Progressive Caucus leadership team, argued the last-ditch push by Whitmire’s campaign to rally support actually emboldened the effort.
“This happened because a bunch of out-of-touch elites tried to bully elected, grassroots leaders in precinct chairs,” Soora said.
Soora added that Whitmire’s refusal to push back on legally mandated cooperation between the Houston Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) undercut his support at a time when “people are frustrated with the politics as they are.”
Whitmire, in his Sunday night statement, said his stance on ramped-up federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump has been “consistently misrepresented.”
“Let me be clear: I strongly oppose the fear-based and harmful tactics used by ICE that tear families apart and undermine trust in our communities,” he said — adding that the city’s policies fall in line with a state law limiting municipalities’ ability to curtail collaboration with ICE.
The progressives against Whitmire received a last-minute boost from Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who advocated for the resolution in a social media post on Saturday. She shared a link to the “Lone Star Left” Substack blog on her Facebook page, quoting a section that argued Whitmire was “governing Houston like Greg Abbott,” a reference to Texas’ Republican governor.
Over the past two years, Whitmire and Hidalgo sparred over the mayor’s comments about her then-fiancé, his prognostication about her political aspirations, and even the speaking order at a press conference following the derecho wind event in 2024.
Although he fought against the resolution, Whitmire’s base of support extends beyond the Democratic party. According to a survey of registered voters released by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs in April, Whitmire’s approval rating increased along the right side of the political spectrum as 56% of Democrats approved of him, compared to 61% of independents and 71% of Republicans.
“Precinct chairs, on average, tend to be notably more progressive than the average Democratic voter,” said Mark Jones, a political scientist with Rice University and a senior research fellow with the Hobby School. “While it’s not a positive outcome for the mayor, I don’t think it’s one that’s going to have much of a negative impact on his reelection efforts in 2027.”
Members of the Progressive Caucus already have their eyes on 2027. Soora said they intend to run a “slate of city council candidates,” and he highlighted the success of Alejandra Salinas — who was recommended but not endorsed by the caucus — over moderate Dwight Boykins in the at-large city council runoff election on Saturday.
“Change is coming to Houston,” Soora said.
Great Job & the Team @ Houston Public Media for sharing this story.
