Houston City Controller Chris Hollins has been a vocal critic of Mayor John Whitmire for months. Hollins is now widely expected to run against Whitmire in the 2027 municipal election. Whitmire has already confirmed that he’d be running for a second term.
The biggest question right now is, when will Hollins actually announce a run? Despite dropping hints about it, Hollins hasn’t made a formal candidacy announcement. He likely won’t for a few more months.
As former Houston City Council member Greg Travis explained: “You’ve got a midterm coming up, so no one’s gonna be focused on city elections, and then you’ve got the holidays. You’ll see Hollins make a move in January, and announce for mayor around that time.”
Whitmire has built up a significant amount of bipartisan support by focusing on practical municipal issues, such as budget shortfalls, so Travis believes that’s where Hollins will try to hit him. “He’s gonna try to use the budget, and age and all that, to instill fear to try and beat Whitmire,” he said. Travis added that Hollins doesn’t really have the experience that Whitmire does, so he won’t be able to attack on that front.
Travis does believe that Whitmire will still be able to defeat Hollins and maintain his seat, but warned that Hollins will be a tougher opponent than the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who Whitmire beat out to win his first term.