The race for Mayor is heating up, and so far three legitimate contenders have announced. Conventional wisdom held we were going to have Turner versus King round two this fall, but then Tony Buzbee entered the race. At first, I was skeptical; he didn’t have any prior political experience suitable for the position. All that I really knew about him was his comments after yet another Texas A&M football collapse that Kevin Sumlin should not be retained and his spat with his home owners association regarding a tank. Neither inspired confidence that he was a serious candidate, and even if he were, that he would make a good mayor. However, after having attended many of his campaign events and his campaign graciously spending around ninety minutes with me a couple of weeks ago he seems to be the best choice for mayor.
This isn’t to say he is the perfect candidate. He lacks political experience of consequence, and this is currently hurting his campaign. The race has some low hanging fruit for the taking – votes that will go to Mayor Turner and could be flipped to either King or Buzbee. However, the failure to recognize and act upon this opportunity doesn’t suggest that he will be a poor mayor. Rather it does the opposite; the fact that he is running a campaign on what he feels is best for the city without regard to taking easy political gain shows fortitude for focusing on the betterment of the city over politics.
Assessing the Race
Although an incumbent usually does better when seeking reelection, Mayor Turner has managed to make himself vulnerable. Mayor Turner, obviously, is going to lose the firefighter vote, and some degree of union sympathy vote will follow the firefighters – though it will not be as much as expected since both the police and municipal workers unions have benefitted greatly under the Mayor’s tenure. This loss of support from the unions will offset the gains that the Mayor otherwise would have made. Adding to the vulnerability is the nature of the last election. The last election margin of victory was razor thin and broken down along ideological lines so the ability to make gains is less than normal. This combination of elements leaves him vulnerable.
Despite this vulnerability, it’s a near certainty that Mayor Turner will be one of the top two finishers after the first round, barring a surprise democrat entry into the race splitting his votes. This leaves Tony and Bill King as battling to be in the runoff. The contrast in style between Tony and King is going to be fascinating to watch as the race develops.
Development as a Candidate
Tony’s initial wave of advertising introducing himself, and that he was running for mayor, was very well done. The commercial was high quality and appropriately toned as both professional and serious. This should have put to rest questions regarding his seriousness regarding the undertaking. However, a commercial is an indication of a candidate’s choice in media handling, not an indication of a candidate’s performance.
One big question that was stuck in the back of my mind was he’s a prominent attorney, will he be willing to listen to others advice, or will he want to have tight control? If it were the latter, then he’s no better than Turner. His early campaign appearances were rough. The first one that I attended happened to be the same day he was the victim of a home invasion so that doubtless impacted his performance. At the next event I attended his performance was only marginally better. The lack of improvement seemed to be a bad omen.
However, by the time he had his official kickoff at his headquarters it was apparent that he had obtained good advisers, and was listening to their advice. The willingness to reach out to seek good advisers and to listen is a sign of humility, and shows that although he is an attorney who is highly successful he understands his weaknesses and is willing to accept instruction.
This willingness to accept advice and instruction has become more evident as he continues to have campaign events. The nuts-and-bolts behind the scene mechanics of the events has become much more smooth over time. Some of this may be a matter of learning from experience, but more is a willingness to listen to others explain where improvements can be made and then empowering them to do what is needed.
His stump speeches have improved over time. This is partially attributable to him finding firmer footing as a candidate, but some of the speech change is clearly the result of listening to feedback from the crowds and incorporating their suggestions. That’s a stark change from what we’ve seen from Mayor Turner.
Results Versus Politics as Usual
A willingness to acknowledge his limitations and listen to others puts to rest the question of will he be different from Mayor Turner. It doesn’t answer the question of will he be a good mayor. Here is where the contrast with Bill King becomes apparent. Mayor Turner and Bill King went down to the wire, and King set himself up to run against Turner after the election. This has lead to a bunch of politics as usual since the last election. King has been very effective at making political points. That’s a good strategy in a politics as usual race. Tony has been focused on how he can achieve results.
Both Tony and King have been diligent in finding alleged significant wrongdoing on the part of Turner. Their response is what sets them apart. King found the exorbitant fees for information regarding the expenditures without City Counsel approval. Tony found the Clear Channel signs issue. Their reaction to their diligent discovery couldn’t be more different. Tony filed suit to correct the alleged wrong. King started whining about what Mayor Turner was doing without attempting to correct the problem. It’s a matter of being results oriented versus politics oriented. While King’s politics are more beneficial to the city he still is politics oriented. That’s a benevolent version of Mayor Turner. Tony is seeking to correct the wrong. It doesn’t matter if he prevails in his suit or not. His actions back his claims that he’s in the race for the good of the city.
The “Also Ran” Candidate’s Supporters Decide the Runoff
Tony has shown significant wisdom in the way he is running his campaign. When it is runoff time the “also ran” voters will decide the outcome. Tony has been steadfast in running on the issues and not acting to alienate King’s voters. While some conservatives may be uncomfortable with Tony for his past political contributions, at least they won’t be alienated and refuse to break for Tony. This is going to be very important come runoff time since Tony is positioning himself, perhaps not intentionally, as a centrist type of candidate who is picking off some of Turner’s voters and picking up some of the anti-Turner vote. This is going to leave Mayor Turner in a weaker position in the struggle for the also ran votes as those voters are going to, by and large, be in the anti-Turner crowd.
Summary
At first I was reluctant to support Tony. However, he has shown himself to be willing to listen to advice. He also has shown himself to be in the race for the good of the city. Although his stump speeches will need to have more “how to” details in the future, he is focusing on issues that matter rather than politics as usual. That gives confidence that he is in the race for the good of the city. Despite his stump speeches lack of detail, his demonstrated willingness to listen to others and take advice is a stark contrast to the current administration, and inspires confidence that he will be able to find good people to work with and advise him on the issues we face. That makes supporting him an easy decision.
Deborah Kelting says
As former chair of the Harris County Democrat Party, which makes sense from a big time Plaintiffs lawyer, makes him the last option as a Republican candidate. Furthermore, donating $200,000 to unseat our great Republican Judges is not aligned with my political views.
Buffie Ingersoll says
Ditto!
King only lost by a few thousand votes in the last election against Turner . If he doesn’t win this time, it will be because of republicans buying the Buzbee cool-aid. Buzbee is a Hard Democrat, has always voted in the democrat primary (when he bothered to vote)! The only time he voted in the republican primary was last November ( same time he gave over $200,000 to democrats and their party). And you don’t think his actions are political!
Greg Degeyter says
You have an interesting analysis, but it seems to be not consider the overall leftward tilt since 2015. If the King v Turner election wasn’t a stark ideological election then your analysis would be spot on.
However, King is facing the headwinds of a voting base that has shifted away from his ideology in the intervening years. Turner has mismanaged enough that the race would still be competitive, but King will need to flip a significant number of Turner voters to counter the underlying ideology change. He’s not well positioned to do that.
WestHouston says
What on earth are you rambling about? You know Buzbee compares himself to Trump while King is just about fixing the city.
This entire article is garbage and only cites a lawsuit as support for a candidate with ZERO public service history who made his money suing a major Houston employer. Seriously, these arguments are so weak.
Greg Degeyter says
If that’s your take on the article then you are reading what you want and not what’s presented.
Adi Dajani says
I am a 23 year veteran retired City employee who spent 3 years in the Aviation Department, 5 years in the Police Department, and 15 years in City Hall. I worked under the leadership of 5 different Mayors before I chose to retire. My choice for retirement was during Mayor Annise Parker and the main reason was her drastic change during her last term and her focus deviation and obsession towards a very specific community forgetting the entire City of Houston. She focused on a personal agenda rather than city of Houston public agenda. Sylvester Turner carries on her flagship of doing the same thing leaving out many unaddressed City of Houston issues for a total of 5 years now. Way too long!! Sylvester Turner promised to revive and continue the mission of Annise Parker as a result of her support to him. Sylvester Turner became Mayor through lying and giving many false promises that were never delivered on. Sylvester Turner committed obvious and blunt violations including lying to the unions, lying to the pension systems, lying to the public, lying to City Council Members, betraying the public trust, dismantling transparency from the City’s public facing websites, planting corruption in every city department, appointing his friends and contributors to executive level positions throughout city departments to ensure they cover for his unethical activities of expending public funds, and finally threatening the city’s vendor community to pledge financial support to his campaign or jeopardize their existing contracts with the city and risk losing their business. This is the Corrupt Mayor we have in Office today. I have high respect for Tony Buzbee for standing in the face of a corrupt administration that’s bankrupting our city. However, it’s been proven over and over again that not because a person is a successful lawyer or a millionaire qualifies him for a public office. Lack of political experience especially in a city like Houston will be just as disastrous as having a corrupt Mayor running City Hall. We all know what that is like today. If Tony Buzbee and/or his supporters define results oriented by filing a lawsuit on issues tied to Corrupt Sylvester Turner, then you are in for a rude awakening. Lawsuits don’t solve anything but add more burden to our judicial system that takes decades to solve and financial waste to our taxpayer dollars. Results oriented should focus on prioritizing issues affecting our community, revising laws, implementing positive changes, and providing appropriate funding to areas in need to ensure our city remains safe and prosperous. This is what makes Bill King valuable and most qualified for the Houston Mayor job. Additionally, he is a notable lawyer, business minded, and experienced politician (ex-Mayor of Kema). Moreover, he serves on various prestigious boards that represent healthcare, aviation, governmental and non-profit organizations which add further credentials to his qualifications as a well-rounded candidate astute to all the relevant industry contributions that make up the Houston economy. Bill King grew up in a middle class family like many of us, worked hard to receive college education and got to where he is today. No one understands city politics more than Bill King. He is an honorable and ethical man. He is compassionate with a heart of gold. He talks the talk and walks the walk. This is who we need for Mayor. He plans to cleanup City Hall from corruption. He plans to renegotiate all sketchy contracts approved by Sylvester Turner. He plans to amend the relationship with the vendor community and encourage their participation in the bidding process and encourage competition to bring prices down. He plans to reinstate full transparency that Sylvester Turner dismantled. He will replace the corrupt puppet department heads with qualified honest ones who will abide by the City’s Code of Ethics. He plans to lift the morale of City employees and work with the Council Members honestly and openly. I support Bill King for his character, vision and experience in re-vitalizing our great City of Houston. I am supporting Bill King because he is a genuine man like you and me who chooses to become a public servant to serve the city he loves most and help the people who live in the city we all love dearly. Let me conclude by saying Bill King promises to fix our streets. Unlike Sylvester Turner who still hasn’t done it after 3 years in office, rest assured Bill King is not one to give false promises for the sake of getting votes. He has a track record of follow through. Bill King is a man of his word and if you don’t know him, I urge you to attend his events and meet him in person. He is a down to earth man, and the best most qualified candidate to run the Mayor’s Office and the City of Houston. If you are looking for a positive change, it will only happen under Bill King who is results oriented and understands navigating through the political arena. Unlike Tony Buzbee who lacks experience in politics and navigation with various government agencies and the like. Additionally, Tony Buzbee is completely removed from the average “Joe” like you and me and will not relate to our needs. He is at risk to serving those he relates to most. Many of Buzbee event attendees have said that he is buying votes through lavish events and parties … City Hall is not for sale!!
WestHouston says
Buzbee is a great self-promoter. King understands the arcane nuances of Houston’s many problems so that he will actually know how to fix our problems. I don’t want to have to teach our next mayor everything he needs to know or watch him get tripped up by the political machine. King will be ready on day one, working for Houstonians and not special interests.
WestHouston says
Also, Buzbee made his tank buying money by suing BP, a major Houston employer. That doesn’t make me want to vote for him, knowing how scammy all those plaintiffs were with clients saying “I’m a Louisiana fisherman but no I can’t prove my income because I’ve never paid taxes!” True story.
Summer Dajani says
Right on WestHouston! Bill King for Mayor!!!
Adi Dajani says
Couldn’t agree more. You’re spot on. Bill King for Mayor is the only way out of this mess that’s created by Corrupt Sylvester Turner who lied his way to the Mayor’s Office and then defaulted on every single false promise he made. Even his own community has abandoned him. Many endorsements have been retracted. A large number of his supporters have dropped him completely. Sylvester Turner’s days are numbered. Tony Buzbee is trying to buy votes but this will not go far enough. As soon as the public listens to his arguments when they debate, they will see right through him that he is totally unqualified to run City Hall.
Sam holdsworth says
Funny thing is if anybody does the research Bill King has given much more money to the Democratic party and Democratic candidates over the last 20 years than Tony Buzbee. He employed Sylvester Turner for 10 years. As managing partner of Linebarger excetera excetera he had a whole team of lobbyists that basically wrote The Playbook for pay-to-play. His whole career has been built on bilking governmental entities to pay them a whole lot of money to write letters to people to harass them to pay their debt.
The nerve to then have your Mantra B clean up City Hall it’s just pure crazy
George Mahesh says
To say King has a chance this time because he only lost by a few thousand votes last time is ridiculous. It’s the same as saying last year’s team in the Super Bowl or World Series will win this year because of a trade? When is that happen. It’s not last election he’s running against incumbent with 10 times as much money and the power of incumbency and the same reasons he lost last time and the same reason to lose this time except he has one pint the money. How come he never mentioned clean up City Hall last time he ran maybe he would have one? That’s why Tony makes more sense. Bill’s whole campaign so far as just been copying Buzbee.
Adi Dajani says
Buzbee’s campaign has no substance, no message, and no direction. Buzbee’s events have been all about providing foods and drinks to the attendees to try to sway their votes in his favor. Buzbee is definitely near sighted. Not every person that eats your food and drinks your drinks votes for you. A close friend of mine who is not even registered to vote has been attending Buzbee’s events to eat and drink. Don’t bee fooled by the appearance from the outside. The message is what strikes with people who care to vote and Buzbee doesn’t have it yet .. No offense!!
PeterD says
Adi, your comments about having friends attend events just for the free food says more about your friends than Tony, the man providing said food out of his own pocket and not from crony donors who will expect a payback should your boy win office. In answer to your implication that he had everything handed to him, you might want to remember Tony’s father was a butcher and his mother a high school cafeteria worker, the man earning an ROTC scholarship to Texas A&M where he was recognized in numerous ways for his excellence. Then he served as a Captain in the Marine Corps, fighting for our country before eventually excelling at UH’s law school and serving on various boards in the private and public sector. That he was named Texas lawyer of the year a few years back was just icing on the cake, his efforts to hold a foreign mega-conglomerate accountable for its destruction of various regional economies apparently glossed over by another commentator.
https://law.tamu.edu/docs/default-source/event-documents/revised-agbuzbee-bio-26april2016.pdf?sfvrsn=0
Adi Dajani says
You may have misunderstood my entire message. Tony Buzbee can provide food and drinks to whoever he wants. The point I was making that he can spend as much money as he can afford but his money will not buy him the election into the Mayor’s Office without the proper message. So far, he has no message and his lack of experience in city politics is apparent. Who is going to vote for an inexperienced person to take over a corrupt local government that has become so rotten because of a corrupt Mayor in office today?!?!?! Houston cannot afford taking that risk. We need an experienced politician who can hit the ground running. Bill King knows what needs to be done and has a plan to accomplish it. Tony Buzbee has no opinion on many issues facing our cities and has no plan that works. His only plan is to sue the Mayor on behalf of our firefighters. Well, I am sorry, this is not a plan we need right now. We have many issues facing the city including the streets, pension systems, corruption in City Hall, and misuse of public funds among other serious issues facing our city. We know what Bill King is going to do. He’s been saying them from last election but Houston never listened. Tony Buzbee still doesn’t know what he’s going to do if he wins the election. This is a scary thought and I can never vote for someone who thinks his lavish events will persuade my vote towards him.
Greg Degeyter says
Not to be overly critical but your message seems internally inconsistent. If he has no opinion (which is not the case) then how can you ascertain if his ideas will work or not?
Summer says
George, Bill King’s message has always been Clean Up City Hall and Going Back to Basics during Annise Parker time. Unfortunately, Turner won and he carried on the same mess Parker did during her term. Bill King continues on with his same clear message as we now need to clean up MORE in City Hall after Turner leaves. Corruption in City Hall has gotten out of hand..
PeterD says
Like Greg, I had my reservations about Tony. I liked that he stood up to one of the most powerful HOA’s in the state based on principle (and won!) and the fact that he was willing to take on one of the region’s most well financed and powerful corporations (and win repeatedly) should be viewed with favor. After all, isn’t taking on powerful special interests and not pandering to them for money something we haven’t seen in decades?
I don’t feel the need to bash Turner here, he’s acted true to form for his entire term in office just as many of us predicted. I’ll give him credit for cancelling a number of big contracts Parker and her cronies set in motion, feathering their nests as they left office with lucrative airport concession deals, recycling scams built on unproven science, and even standing up to crazy union demands the city can’t afford. The flip side is that he seemed to do all that so he could make his own deals and soak others trying to grab our money, a typical democrat move. He also deflated King’s single issue of record by addressing the pension crisis, albeit poorly, King stating on his blog that HFD pensions are still too generous so he’ll expect them to sit down and negotiate further cuts. Yeah, that’s not going to work and all the Republicans involved in putting the 2017 deal together have had all they can stomach.
Then we have Bill King, the runoff candidate who has had years to refine his approach from the way he tried to play competing interests against each other, telling liberal audiences what they wanted to hear and then conservative audiences what they wanted to hear all in the same day sometimes. His #1 issue was pension reform and his solution was to issue bonds to wipe the slate clean (except for those pesky bonds of course), then forcing employees to agree to get less in the future. His answer to another city problem, failing roads and infrastructure, was also to issue a great deal of debt, apparently failing to understand all the debt would have to be paid back and that the city had limits on what it could ask voters to approve. The tragic thing is that since his campaign he has retracted his willingness to issue debt, apparently because that was how Turner addressed pension reform. Lacking new solutions, King has spent the years since the election he lost by complaining about everything Turner has done. A viable candidate would have offered better solutions than Turner, something we have yet to see from him in this round. His latest fishing expedition to uncover Turner’s malfeasance was the information request for every financial transaction, and it was supposedly based on an “anonymous” employee, a request for millions of documents he later trimmed back to over half a million and he’s surprised what the number of man hours are needed to comply. Pass!
I’ve mentioned recently that I would have preferred Tony file a complaint or ask the Texas Ethics Commission to rule on the billboards matter he took to the courts. After all, as successful as he has been in using the courts it is understandable he’d go there first but in this case, conventional wisdom is that he’d address the billboards faster and cheaper going the traditional route. Other than that, Tony has defended his home from criminals using a firearm-does anyone think either King or Turner would do that?- and he has shown a willingness to remain himself as he talks to groups, unlike others he doesn’t speak with a forked tongue depending on his audience. Upon taking office he would certainly oust the city’s terrible police chief and well meaning fire chief in favor of experts more in line with city interests, doing likewise with city legal and department heads unable to see the big picture. He has already consulted with people on how to streamline city services to get the most bang for the buck regardless of political affiliation too-leaving his dinosaur opponents that are set in their ways far behind. But if some of you favor guys like Bill that have donated far more to progressive candidates over the years, or even Turner because he has superior experience than the two challengers-the kind most of us here don’t care for, that is your choice.
Adi Dajani says
I continue to say Crooked Sylvester Turner ruined our city and took us the taxpayers for a long ride. This corrupt man is unethical and inexperienced, regardless what you said in your narrative. He lied his way into the Mayor’s Office and then kissed the voters good bye. Not one promise he gave us was fulfilled. This is not a good politician. This is a devious corrupt criminal. With my respect to all of you, the only candidate with a clear vision, mission, and a viable plan is Bill King.
Greg Degeyter says
“King stating on his blog that HFD pensions are still too generous so he’ll expect them to sit down and negotiate further cuts.”
That’s an excellent and important point. How does King intend to win if he doesn’t get the support of the unions who have soured on Turner? This presents a significant obstacle for any path to victory for King.
From a realistic standpoint either Tony or King is better than Turner. However, Tony has a clearer path to victory than King.
Adi Dajani says
This is hilarious. Tony Buzbee need to come up with a message first before Election Day. He has none thus far.
Sam holdsworth says
You obviously don’t have an open mind? Why are you so vitriolic to everybody. Can’t we just be four teams like A&M and Texas? I’ve attended to events and I had to buy tickets for a cash bar. If you do your research Bill King voted in just as many Democratic primaries and donated more money to democratic candidates in the Democratic party over his career be nice
howie katz says
Fellows, after reading all the comments, you’ve convinced me not to vote for either Buzbee or King. But then again, anyone would be far better than Slyvester (deliberately misspelled).
Tom in Lazybrook says
Ive seen nothing from King or Buzbee tailored to non-Trump voters. If they spend the time between now and November genuflecting to West Houston conservative groups, theyll have a problem in the runoff. If there is even a runoff.
Im a District C/Hd134 voter that didnt vote for Turner last time. I dont really care for Turner, but Im voting for him as things stand now. King won District C last time. Im not sure he keeps those voters this time.
Endorsement season is going to be a minefield for King and Buzbee.
My question to the King and Buzbee people is this….how do you expand the city electorate for your candidate.
DanMan says
Turner is by far my least favorite democrat in the race. King wants to manage the debt. If I can convince Buzbee to jettison most of it he’ll be my favorite dem in the race. If he wants us to issue bonds or raise taxes for pension debt he’s just a more flamboyant King. Turner forged the chains that keeps the pension negotiations out of local control and from what I have seen we have returned to Lee P. Brown days of ‘if you ain’t in the club you ain’t playing” at public works.
King seems to have a better handle on flooding details so far. Buzbee is getting some decent buzz.
Jury’s out for now since this post is about style instead of issues.
Greg Degeyter says
Buzbee is in the process of drafting position papers. That will answer many of the questions.
Karen says
In 1992 Bill King ran for the state Legislature as a Democrat, and, according to his book, Unapologetically Moderate, he supports things like sanctuary cities, Canadian style healthcare, etc. Also if it were up to him, he would put a stop to praying in public. Doesn’t sound particularly Republican to me. His book is available on Amazon if you’d like to read about his political views in more depth. King also did a recorded interview in 2015 with liberal blogger, Charles Kuffner, in which he states that if he weren’t running for Mayor, he’d endorse Costello because there wasn’t a whole lot of daylight between them. Costello of course went on to endorse Turner in the runoff……….