Chris Hollins wins, first results are in

Attorney Chris Hollins defeated former Harris County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez in the election to become Houston’s next mayor. With early voting and 38.5% of polling stations reported, Hollins now has 59.5% of the vote, while his opponent, Sanchez, has 40.5% – a lead that is not can be defeated as the votes continue to be counted.

“We’re excited,” Hollins told the Chronicle Saturday night at his Chapman and Kirby viewing party, shortly after the first results came in. “The people of Houston spoke with one voice today. There were no ifs, ors about it.”

A 37-year-old personal injury attorney, Hollins is a former Harris County Clerk, where he introduced drive-thru and 24-hour voting and oversaw the county’s election during the debate of the 2020 presidential election. He also organized a series of polls, including the mini-car “Giddy Up to the Polls”, which helped the recording of the number of voters during the first election period of that year.

His name was first put in the hat for the mayor of Houston, but he withdrew when the US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee her own bid to be mayor. After turning his attention to the governor’s race, Hollins received endorsements from prominent elected officials, including Mayor Sylvester Turner and Governor Chris Brown. He also received the support of local groups and unions, such as Progress Texas and the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation.

Hollins said Saturday that it was “inspiring” to see his supporters so strong despite the busy holiday season and a bad Saturday.

“It was tough coming out the second time,” Hollins said. “To see people come and pull that button that’s just part of the community foundation we’ve built… I’m humbled.”

After his second unsuccessful run for the presidency, Sanchez, 66, said he does not plan to run for office again. But he said he will continue to devote time and effort to his political committee, Texas Latino Conservatives PAC, to help mobilize Hispanics in local elections and increase Hispanic representation in the City. Hall.

“Anytime you run for office and work hard for a few months, it’s always frustrating … but my favorite quote is, ‘It’s not This is my first rodeo.’ I’ve won some, and I’ve lost some,” Sanchez told the Chronicle Saturday night at his viewing party at the Memorial Trail Ice House. instruction, more debt, money go we can’t afford it.”

Sanchez, a Cuban national, was a former Harris County Clerk for 12 years and a member of the Houston city council for six years, where he was part of the committee the budget. He previously ran for manager in 2019 and mayor in 2001 and 2003. He lost all three races.

The manager acts as the financial watchdog in Houston’s “mayoral power”, where the mayor controls all administrative units in the city government. The manager’s duties include running city departments, managing city payments, investing city funds and making periodic reports on the city’s financial situation.

Although the mayor does not have the power to implement policies, he has the power to call out problems at City Hall through audits and, sometimes, indirect influence. in the decisions of the city. Brown, for example, recently put the brakes on a major airport renovation project by refusing to confirm the availability of city funding.

Brown is term-limited and cannot run for re-election after serving two terms between 2016 and 2023.

During his campaign, Hollins vowed to help solve Houston’s budget deficit by actively seeking city jobs as well as sharing best practices with city officials. In particular, he said he will take a closer look at Houston’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, collection channels and concessionaires, all of which have faced scrutiny.

Another of his priorities, Hollins said, is to rebuild trust between councilors and city leaders by making the city’s finances better. be clear. He said he will explore the use of new technology, such as ChatGPT, to create a better platform for Houstonians to understand how their taxes are spent.

Elizabeth Sander, Jonathan Limehouse and Matt Zdun contributed to the story.