Sometimes the Chronicle makes an endorsement in a race where there may be a runoff and their preferred candidate doesn’t make the cut. They then get to have a do-over for the overtime period. That’s what happened in the Houston City Council At Large #4 runoff, and they made their selection of Alejandra Salinas.
Alejandra Salinas
How quickly politics can change.
Back in our endorsement for the general election, we noted that Alejandra Salinas had an impressive resume, robust grasp of municipal policy and a praiseworthy focus on the important issues that don’t always make headlines. However, we were concerned that she wouldn’t stand up to Mayor Whitmire where necessary. Too few on City Council do. So consider our pleasant surprise when, after the mayor clumsily admitted the city was cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after months of denials, Salinas released a brief yet powerful statement in response.
“This is wrong,” she wrote on social media. “I am profoundly disappointed in the lack of transparency by the administration. One of my relatives, a U.S. citizen, was wrongly detained by ICE. He is OK, but the unlawful actions of ICE are not. Our city should not enable wrongful actors.”
It was exactly the sort of political bravery we were looking for. We encourage Houstonians to vote for Alejandra Salinas in the runoff election for At-Large 4. Early voting is Dec. 1 – 9, and Election Day is Dec. 13.
Of course, she offers more than punchy social media posts. During our runoff endorsement meeting with the candidates, Salinas honed in on pressing legal questions about whether Houston police officers could be told to exercise discretion on enforcing non-criminal immigrant detainers.
Enforcing these sorts of civil warrants has typically not been the responsibility of local police, but the Trump administration is trying to change that. Legal experts point out that holding Houston residents based on these detainers could violate constitutional rights. Law enforcement leaders — Republicans and Democrats — have argued that forcing police to act like immigration agents wastes resources and undermines community trust.
Salinas was keenly aware of these problems and laid out how the City Council should address them.
[…]
Of course, as Salinas made clear throughout the meeting, she’d much rather work on the core issues of city governance: building and maintaining our infrastructure, drawing down more funding through state and federal grants and building political coalitions that unite our city. We also appreciate how she has taken on many of the road safety concerns prioritized by Jordan Thomas, who earned our endorsement in the general election. No doubt she would do an excellent job helping city leadership tackle the basics.
All Houstonians probably wish City Hall had the luxury of focusing solely on the basics right now.
If that were the case, this choice might be more difficult. Her opponent, Dwight Boykins, has twice been elected to City Council and is endorsed by a broad coalition of Democrats and Republicans. He is charming and friendly, and his background as a political lobbyist also brings useful skills. But despite his experience in office, we found his knowledge about issues and policies at City Hall to be wanting. Boykins was always a better fit for his old District D seat, where he could dedicate his efforts toward delivering for his constituents’ everyday needs.
Boykins represents an old status quo at City Hall, and anyone who wants to maintain it should vote for him.
But Salinas knows exactly what time it is.
And it is time for voters to elect her to City Council.
As noted, the Chron endorsed Jordan Thomas in the first round. He finished a very respectable third in November, with more than enough of the vote to have some influence on the runoff if he chooses to do so. I haven’t seen any official communications from him or his campaign about that so I don’t know where that might stand. The Chron’s star rating system had him as a four-star candidate when they endorsed for November, with Salinas at three and a half and Dwight Boykins at two and a half. For the runoff, they bumped Salinas up to four stars, presumably for the reasons they outlined in the piece. Those of you who have enjoyed the editorial page’s frequent admonitions of Mayor Whitmire for his sins will find this endorsement quite satisfying.
My interview with Alejandra Salinas is here and my interview with Dwight Boykins is here. I’ll take a look at the eight-day runoff reports when they come out. Early voting is almost upon us, so get ready for round two.