Mayor Sylvester Turner trounced his opponent Tony Buzbee in a landslide victory on Saturday, securing the incumbent mayor a second term.
According to unofficial returns, Turner won 57 percent of the vote to Buzbee’s 43%.
“Let this campaign be a reminder that you can grow up and still live in the ‘hood, and still be the mayor of the fourth largest city in the United States of America,” Turner said.
Victory for Turner in the runoff election follows more than a year-long negative campaign from Buzbee, who gave $500,000 to Trump.
The Texas Tribune reported on Saturday that Donald Trump’s son recorded a robocall on behalf of Buzbee. News outlets also reported texts by President Trump urging a vote for Buzbee.
Turner will now lead Houston for another four years. He has promised to continue his work on flooding mitigation, climate change, and other staple city issues. A UH poll in October found that flooding was the most pressing issue on the minds of Houstonians.
“My focus is making sure that we don’t have two cities in one, cities with haves and have nots,” Turner told the Signal last month of his promises for the next four years. “The goal is to do even more to eliminate disparities between communities and between people’s standard of living, and to provide affordable housing opportunities and better living wages so that we don’t have two cities.”
Buzbee, or at least his wallet, might be reeling from Saturday’s loss. The showboating Trumpian lawyer poured about $12.3 million of his own cash into his run for mayor.
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignal.com
