Houston Controller Chris Hollins hosts a town hall on Houston’s budget at BakerRipley Ripley House in Houston, Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle
City Controller Chris Hollins sent the strongest signal yet on Wednesday that he could launch a challenge against Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s bid for a second term in 2027.
Hollins, the city’s second-highest-ranking elected official, swiped at Whitmire during remarks at a press event in Dallas, where he appeared with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as part of Democrats’ pushback against the ongoing midterm Republican National Convention.
While much of Hollins’ short speech was aimed at boosting statewide Democratic candidates, including James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, he named Whitmire, who he has long clashed with over city finances and other issues, on a list of officials he hoped would be soon unseated.
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“We have folks who will do anything that they can to be the lapdog or the doormat of this demented, incompetent tyrant,” Hollins said, referring to President Donald Trump. “We’re stuck for now, for just a couple more days, with Greg Abbott, with Ken Paxton.
“We’re stuck for a little bit longer with Ted Cruz, with (Dallas Mayor) Eric Johnson, with John Whitmire,” Hollins continued. “But the day for change is coming.”
Hollins did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. In a statement, Whitmire called the controller’s remarks “silly politics that I do not have time for.”
The two officials have been at odds since both took office in 2024. From his post as the city’s financial watchdog, Hollins has publicly criticized Whitmire’s actions on the city’s budget woes as inadequate short-term fixes. He also opposed a number of mayoral initiatives, including the city’s settlement with firefighters and its recent $50 million deal to avoid annexing The Woodlands, moves he says significantly raise expenses while cutting off revenue streams.
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Even so, Hollins’ remarks are a sign that the feud could soon devolve into “open warfare,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston.
“This is the harshest and most pointed criticism we’ve seen from Hollins against Whitmire to date,” Rottinghaus said. “They’ve had an ongoing fracas which tended to be over policy issues, but this has become much more of a political fight.”
Hollins has also accused the city of improperly withholding related documents and is investigating a top Whitmire advisor after a Houston Chronicle report found he rarely appeared at City Hall.
The mayor, in turn, has frequently accused Hollins of “playing politics” and initiated a city ethics probe into what Whitmire called a “pay-to-play” scheme through sponsorships for a city financial conference. Investigators later closed the case after finding it “not sustained.”
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Hollins’ remarks indicate that he may look to consolidate Houston’s liberal base against a mayor who has often leaned on the support of moderate and conservative-leaning voters, said Nancy Sims, a political science lecturer at the University of Houston.
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“Tying Whitmire to Trump and company indicates that he plans to take the city election, if he does run, into a highly partisan liberal-conservative battle,” Sims said, noting that city elections are officially nonpartisan and both men are Democrats.
It is not clear whether Hollins would have the support of party officials in a challenge. Whitmire, who served for decades as a Democrat in the state Legislature, was barred from receiving the endorsement of the Harris County Democratic Party in 2025, though he maintains significant ties to many local and statewide leaders.
Hollins previously announced a run for mayor in 2023, but stepped aside when the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee entered the race before losing to Whitmire.
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Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder and State Rep. Gene Wu of Houston, who leads Democrats in the Texas House, stood alongside Hollins during his remarks on Wednesday, though neither showed a visible reaction to his reference to Whitmire. Wu previously endorsed Whitmire’s 2023 election.
An official campaign announcement may not come for several months, however. Though mayoral candidates have made announcements earlier and earlier in recent election cycles, Rottinghaus said, challengers are likely to wait until after the November midterm elections to formalize bids.
State law also prohibits some elected officials, including Hollins, from announcing a run for another position until a year and 30 days before their current term in office ends. Both Whitmire and Hollins’ current terms expire in December 2027.