It's time to vote for the next Houston mayor
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Election Day is finally here.
Why it matters: Houstonians will be voting for a new mayor after incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner reached his term limit.
- Plus, the city controller, all of the City Council district and at-large positions, a pair of city charter amendments, a county hospital proposition, and state propositions are also on the ballot.
State of play: This is the first time since 2020 that an election in Harris County is being run by the county clerk.
- Earlier this year, Republican legislators abolished the Harris County Elections Administrator's Office after the 2022 election experienced machines malfunctioning and other issues.
What we're watching: Unless state Sen. John Whitmire or U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee can surpass the expectations reflected in the recent University of Houston polls, the two front-runners in the mayoral race are likely headed for a December runoff.
Details: Polls are open from 7am to 7pm Tuesday.
- Check your county election office website to locate polling locations.
- View your sample ballot: Austin County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Harris County, Montgomery County, Waller County.
- Make sure to bring your ID.
- Metro will provide free rides to Houston-area polling locations.
The bottom line: If you're registered, go vote.
Go deeper: Here are our quick local and state voting guides.
Charted: Early-voting numbers
Open embedded content from datawrapper.dwcdn.netDespite the influx of new residents and Houston's larger electorate, early voting has remained at approximately the same level since 2015, when Turner was elected.
By the numbers: About 9.3% of the 2.57 million registered voters in Harris County voted early this year, according to the unofficial early-voting numbers from the Harris County Clerk's Election Department.
- While the number of voters increased from 2015, the percentage was flat — 9.4% of the 2.1 million registered voters in 2015 voted early.
The intrigue: Mail-in ballots returned in this election were half the number returned in 2015, with nearly 15,000 ballots this year compared to 30,000 eight years ago.
- The drop came after the passage of new laws imposing restrictions on mail-in ballots, including a 2020 state law that limited Texas counties to only one location for dropping off mail-in ballots as well as a 2021 law that made the application process for mail-in ballots more complicated.