The 2023 Houston mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, with a runoff on December 9 because no candidate won a majority of the vote in the first round. It was held to elect the mayor of Houston, Texas. Incumbent Democratic mayor Sylvester Turner was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. Municipal elections in Texas are officially nonpartisan.[1]
Two longtime fixtures of Houston politics, state senator John Whitmire and U.S. representative Sheila Jackson Lee, advanced to the runoff. Both Democrats, though Whitmire had drawn support from some Republicans while Turner endorsed Jackson Lee as his successor. Polls of the runoff consistently showed wide leads for Whitmire. Candidates eliminated in the first round include bond investor Gilbert Garcia and former at-large city councilor Jack Christie, the leading Republican candidate.
Whitmire prevailed in the runoff, defeating Jackson Lee in a landslide victory.[2]