Houston City Councilor Dwight Boykins filed paperwork Tuesday for a possible November bid against Mayor Sylvester Turner, a fellow Democrat and a former ally whom he has come into conflict with in recent months. Two days later the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, who as we’ll discuss has been at the center of Turner’s recent political troubles, endorsed Boykins, and he used the occasion to issue a press release confirming he was running.
Turner and Boykins have repeatedly clashed over Proposition B, a 2018 ballot initiative that would grant equal pay to firefighters and police of corresponding status. Turner and the local police union opposed Prop B, which was strongly backed by the Fire Fighters Association and passed with 59% of the vote. Turner has repeatedly said Houston can’t afford it, and in April, the city prepared to lay off 66 fire cadets. Last month, though, a judge declared that Prop B was unconstitutional, and it still remains unclear what will happen next.
Boykins has been a loud Turner critic throughout this affair. Last month, the councilman declared, “People who are making between $30,000 and $50,000 a year will be unemployed under what the mayor’s doing,” and added, “Their health care, their retirement are all in jeopardy because he chooses the easy way out -- to lay them off to pay back the firefighters for getting (Proposition) B passed.”
Texas political writer Charles Kuffner also notes that Boykins, who briefly mulled seeking the 2018 Democratic nod for governor, is considerably more socially conservative than Turner. In 2014, Boykins voted against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which was designed to extend local protections to gay and transgender residents, especially in housing or employment. The following year, when HERO was on the citywide ballot, Boykins refused to take a stance on the issue. Ultimately, HERO’s opponents, in a tactic that foreshadowed what the GOP would do in North Carolina months later, ran a successful and transphobic campaign where they argued that the law would make women unsafe in bathrooms. Turner, by contrast, backed HERO.
Turner already faces opposition from businessman Bill King, a conservative independent who narrowly lost their 2015 race. King supported Prop B last year, arguing that, while it should never have been on the ballot in the first place, a vote against the firefighters "would add insult to injury after what the city did to them in the pension deal and I fear would have a devastating effect on firefighter morale."
Also in the race is wealthy attorney Tony Buzbee, who also refuses to identify himself with any party and declared that partisan labels were "bullshit." Buzbee is a former attorney for former GOP Gov. Rick Perry, and in recent years, he’s hosted fundraisers with Donald Trump as well as Hillary Clinton. Buzbee has also been involved in the Prop B controversy, with the Fire Fighters Association accepting an offer from him last year to mediate the dispute between themselves and the city at no cost. Buzbee has already been running TV spots against Turner. Buzbee said after the firefighters backed Boykins, “Although this certainly will weaken Sylvester Turner’s chances to make a runoff, this won’t impact our campaign.”
Houston’s candidate filing deadline isn’t until late August, so there’s still time for more candidates to get in. All the contenders will compete on one ballot on Nov. 5, and if no one takes a majority, there would be a runoff Dec. 14.
Want more great elections coverage like this? Sign up for our free daily newsletter, the Morning Digest.
