Let the election-palooza to replace him begin!
John Whitmire
Mayor-elect John Whitmire has submitted his resignation from the Texas Senate days before he will take over the state’s largest city.
Whitmire, the Senate’s longest tenured member, served for 50 years under seven governors, six lieutenant governors and eight speakers, according to a letter submitted to Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday morning.
“I look forward to continuing to serve the citizens of Houston as the 63rd Mayor of the great City of Houston,” Whitmire wrote. “I also look forward to strengthening the bond between the City of Houston and the State of Texas so Houston can continue to be a world class city where people love to live, work, and visit.”
Whitmire’s resignation will take effect at 10 p.m. on Sunday.
He will take his oath of office as Houston’s next mayor 12:01 a.m. Monday in a private ceremony at City Hall. Whitmire, 74, will inaugurated with the rest of the newly elected officials and incumbent council members in a public ceremony at Wortham Theater on Tuesday.
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Candidates for Whitmire’s now-open Senate seat may have to prevail through up to five elections before getting to work on any Texas law.
Whitmire’s term was set to expire in 2024. But with the outgoing senator’s resignation, there could be a special election, a runoff to the special election, a primary and a primary runoff before the November election.
A special election for Whitmire’s seat has yet to be called, but six Democrats and one Republican have filed to fill his seat in the March primary.
We’ve talked about this for a year now. There’s previous reporting to suggest that the special election could be in January. I don’t know how that’s possible, given the need for Greg Abbott to formally announce and set it, the need for a filing period, the need for mail ballots to be printed and sent, and so on. For what it’s worth, the special election to replace Mayor Turner after he resigned his legislative seat following his victory in 2015 was in May of 2016. May of 2024 seems more likely to me, but Abbott does have some discretion if there’s about to be another special session. We’ll know soon enough. I will have interviews with at least five of the six Dems running in the primary beginning on January 8, so you have that to look forward to.