Justin Doud/Houston Public Media
Houston Mayor John Whitmire looks on as protesters disrupt a Houston City Council meeting on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire could lose the endorsement of the party he’s been affiliated with for more than five decades if Harris County Democratic Party precinct chairs approve an admonishment resolution on Dec. 14.
The resolution has been in the works for the better part of 2025 after Whitmire attended a fundraiser for Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw. Pointing to that fundraiser, the resolution “condemns the political behavior of John Whitmire and finds that his conduct undermines the values and mission of the Democratic Party, warranting denial of endorsement in all future elections effective immediately.”
“Working across the aisle — that’s not what happened here,” said Cameron “Coach Cam” Campbell, who spearheaded the resolution. “This was him lending his social currency, his access, his privilege, to fundraise for a Republican.”
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The resolution, which bears the signatures of 99 precinct chairs, passed the party’s steering committee last week and will be considered by up to 600 precinct chairs at a meeting on Dec. 14.
Related: Harris County Democrats hold off fundraising rule change as effort to admonish Whitmire continues
The advancement of the resolution, first reported by the Houston Chronicle, came as Democrats have grown increasingly frustrated over the perceived impotence of party leadership.
An official spokesperson for the mayor and Whitmire’s political campaign office did not respond to requests for comment. In a recent profile from the New York Times, Whitmire positioned himself as a moderate, low-key municipal politician compared to other mayors who took more vocal stances against President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I don’t think that his kind of bowing down to the GOP is necessary if you want to get results,” said Anthony Rios, co-chair of the Houston Progressive Caucus, pointing to the apparently friendly meeting between Trump and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in November. “He was able to go talk to Trump without conceding anything and get Trump to actually give him things — to not freeze federal funding, to not invade New York. What has Whitmire actually gotten for all of his kowtowing?”
During his first two years in office, Whitmire leaned on his relationships with the Republican-controlled state leadership to secure funding — including more than $32 million from Governor Greg Abbott for recovery from Hurricane Beryl and the derecho wind event in 2024, as well as $17 million for the city’s parks from the Texas Legislature, in which he represented Houston as a Democrat for 50 years before becoming mayor.
The resolution doesn’t mention the Houston Police Department’s coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement — in which HPD has called ICE during traffic stops to notify federal agents of active immigration warrants — but Rios said Whitmire’s recent acknowledgement of the relationship “really galvanized a lot of people who were on the fence into open opposition within the party because they just see Whitmire working with Trump, and they can’t stand it.”
Political scientist Mark Jones with Rice University said precinct chairs “want to see their elected officials be openly and actively opposing the Trump administration” — but he argued they don’t necessarily reflect Whitmire’s base of support.
“I don’t think the mayor is going to lose a great deal of sleep over the admonishment of Democratic Party activists, a majority of whom have never been strong Whitmire supporters,” Jones said. “For Whitmire, the key to his reelection hinges on maintaining the support of roughly a third of Democrats — the more moderate ones — and then winning the independent and Republican vote. Right now, his administration is doing everything it needs to do to maintain that winning coalition, making it very difficult for any challenger to defeat him in 2027.”
In September, Democratic precinct chairs voted down a rule change that would have withheld endorsements from any elected official or candidate who fundraised for a Republican. Campbell said the group backing the measure planned to reintroduce it in the coming months.