Politics & Government

Mayor Sylvester Turner Throws Hat In The Ring

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Wednesday that he will seek a second term

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced his re-election bid on Wednesday.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced his re-election bid on Wednesday. (City of Houston)

HOUSTON — Mayor Sylvester Turner announced Wednesday that is running for a second term as mayor of Houston. Turner who served as a state legislator for more than two decades before being elected to his first term in 2015, will face a stiff challenge from former Councilman Bill King and Houston attorney Tony Buzbee.

King ran against Turner in 2015 and narrowly lost, while Buzbee is making his first run at political office.

Turner, who announced his re-election bid on Twitter, called his term as Houston mayor "the honor of my lifetime."

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Turner, who along with former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett guided Houston and Harris County through the ravages of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, has pledged to stay the course of recovering from Hurricane Harvey with a focus on flood mitigation and promised more fiscal responsibility, as he said was demonstrated with his handling of the pension crisis during the 2017 legislative session.

While those could be feather's in Turner's cap, he still faces a battle with the Houston Professional Firefighters Association over the em passe with Proposition B. On Feb. 28, the Houston Federation of Teachers pulled their support for Turner of issues related to his handling of Prop. B.

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“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Turner said in his announcement on Twitter. “If you want to know what kind of mayor I'll be, just take a look at the kind of mayor I have been; a mayor for all of Houston.”

Turner will host his officials kick off party at Minute Maid Park on March 30.

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