The old white Republican guy is ahead with 43% to 37%, with 15 other candidates siphoning off the rest. Gilbert Garcia and Jack Christie both have about 10,500 votes each (7%), so the race is going to a run-off.
The question now is can Sheila Jackson Lee crank up the Democrat machine in Houston to overcome a 6% deficit by scooping up all the other votes?
Even if she gets the "Garcia" vote and John Whitmire gets the "Christie" vote, she is still behind by 6%.
They will have to find new votes in the December runoff, that is, people who didn't vote in this election who will be dragged out for Her Majesty in the runoff election.
-PJ
Jackson Lee and Whitmire — two of Houston’s main
political Democrat fixtures are headed for a Dec 9 runoff.
They spent months dominating the open mayoral race that
drew 17 candidates on the ballot and a write-in candidate.
But neither could pass the threshold of more than 50% of the vote, necessary to avoid a runoff.
In early tabulations, Whitmire had about 43% of the vote to Jackson-Lee’s 36%.
Jackson Lee, 73, and Whitmire, 74, are in a race
to lead one of the youngest major cities in the U.S.