With 27 days to go until Election Day, John Whitmire is outspending his closest opponent, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, and has more money left in the bank.
HOUSTON — With less than a month to go until Houston elects a new mayor, KHOU 11 News learned new information about where the race stands by taking a closer look at the money.
KHOU 11 News reviewed recently filed 30-day campaign finance reports which showed that Sen. John Whitmire appears to be in a strong position to finish out the race.
“This certainly shows John Whitmire understands this race will be a photo finish,” KHOU political analyst Brandon Rottinghaus said.
Whitmire is outspending his opponents by more than double. Whitmire spent $3.9 million from July through September. Gilbert Garcia came in second with $1.6 million spent. Whitmire’s closest challenger, according to mock polls, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, spent just over $750,000.
“She hasn’t raised enough to be competitive at this point,” Rottinghaus said.
Rottinghaus said Jackson Lee’s built-in coalition is keeping her competitive in the race. The UH Hobby School’s latest polling shows 34% of voters backing Whitmire and Jackson Lee trailing by 3 at 31%.
“John Whitmire knows this will go to a runoff so he has to be well positioned for that,” Rottinghaus said.
Whitmire has $6.8 million left in the bank while Jackson Lee has about $900,000 in her campaign coffers.
“Whitmire wants to make sure he has enough in the bank to compete in the long haul,” Rottinghaus said.
That money could be pivotal. Polling projections show Whitmire will increase his lead in a runoff, toppling Jackson Lee 50% to 36%.
Whitmire spent most of his cash on advertising, 10 times more than Jackson Lee. His ads haven’t gone negative, yet, while Jackson Lee’s have. Expect the attacks to keep coming the closer we get to Election Day.
“Both campaigns have a lot of work to do in shoring support,” Rottinghaus said.
There’s not a lot of outside money influencing this race — 90% of all candidates’ contributions since July came from within Texas. Garcia raised more than Whitmire and Jackson Lee combined this year, mostly from his own pocket, but has not made much of a dent in the race, so far.
KHOU 11 on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
