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Houston mayoral election results: Turner, Buzbee runoff

Houston mayoral election results send Turner and Buzbee to runoff.

Houston voters woke up on Wednesday to learn that the Houston mayoral election isn’t over yet. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is heading to a runoff against high-profile attorney Tony Buzbee.

With all vote centers reporting Wednesday morning, Turner had 48 percent of the vote in unofficial returns to 28 percent for Buzbee. Turner was around 7,800 votes short of winning enough of the vote — more than 50% — to avert an overtime round.

The runoff is set for Dec. 14. 

Bill King, who narrowly lost to Turner in the 2015 mayoral runoff, came in third Tuesday with 14 percent. City Councilman Dwight Boykins finished fourth with 6 percent. Turner faced 11 challengers, but only a few were seen as serious.

There was a massive delay in the Houston mayoral election results from Harris County. The almost complete numbers weren’t released until almost 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Still, the overall order did not change throughout the night and morning. Turner’s percentage hovered below 50 percent and Buzbee persisted as a clear runner-up.

Turner is fighting for a second term leading Texas’ biggest city and the fourth most populous in the country.

Although the race was nonpartisan, Turner — a former Democratic state representative — dogged Buzbee over his past financial support for President Donald Trump, an unpopular figure in the solidly blue city.

Turner persisted with the Trump-themed contrast Wednesday morning.

“The good news about this runoff is that Houstonians have a very simple and very clear choice for mayor: An experienced leader who has been delivering for Houston for more than 30 years,” Turner said.

“Or a Donald Trump imitator who has no experience, no ideas and will say anything, do anything or spend anything to get elected.”

Throughout the contest, Buzbee presented himself as a political outsider determined to clean up city hall corruption.

Along the way, he self-funded his campaign to the tune of $10 million, refusing donations from others to show he would not be beholden to anyone.

Flooding and natural disaster recovery were some of the key issues in the race.

This article originally appeared on the Texas Tribune click here to read it in its original form.

For more reporting on elections check out Reform Austin on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Staff
Staff
Written by RA News staff.

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