Eleven candidates have stepped up willing and ready to lead Houston into the future. All seem to agree that one of the top priorities to get the city on track is to fix the infrastructure, tackle the pay for firefighters and police officers, and use taxpayers’ money efficiently. The various ways to handle those problems is where they differ. Houston Style has examined the slate and broken down the platforms of the top 5 mayoral candidates. All that is left is for you to go to the polls and vote. Early voting is from October 21-November 1, 2019 and Election Day is November 5, 2019.

Dwight A. Boykins

Something always plastered on Dwight Boykins's face is a smile because helping people just brings him joy. A native Houstonian Boykins has spent his entire life helping Houstonians, especially those in his beloved District D. From cutting the yards of seniors to giving people a second chance at a promising career, Boykins has proven to be an advocate for the young to the very old. He now wants to expand his reach and care for all of Houston as its next mayor.

His top priorities are dealing with public safety, infrastructure, and job creation. He has proposed to streamline the city’s budget by employing a zero-based budget to prioritize spending on infrastructure, pay parity, collective bargaining obligations, public safety, street repairs (potholes), and trash pickup. Boykins has been highly critical of Mayor Sylvester Turner handling of firefighters pay and his opposition to Proposition B. The Houston Professional Firefighters Association has backed Boykins for his support of Prop B and fair and equal pay. Also on his plate is a plan to fix the many flooding problems in Houston by addressing the city’s drainage issue and speeding up recovery efforts caused by Hurricane Harvey with needed street and housing repairs.

Boykins is a graduate of Texas Southern University with a degree in business. A successful businessman and entrepreneur, he has served on Houston City Council, representing District D, since 2014. He has been married to the love of his life, Genora, for more than 30 years. Both worship at Windsor Village Church.

Tony Buzbee

Tony Buzbee is a man that believes in working hard to deliver results. It is a formula that has carried him throughout life. Based on his varied accomplishments, the formula has proven to be successful. Buzbee feels its time to test his formula again as Houston’s next mayor and put the city on the winning track.

Throughout this election cycle, Buzbee has been very vocal about disapproval of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s management of the city’s finances. The alleged practice of paying-to-play to allow campaign donors, friends, and others to get city contracts is something he wants to eliminate to better utilize citizens’ funds and give all a shot to do business with the city. He intends to form policy preventing campaign donors from securing contracts with the city and increase government transparency. His top priorities are getting universal pre-K, reducing crime, improving infrastructure, addressing Houston’s stray animal issue, and expanding access to 5G broadband. The above will help fund these improvements along with his plan to utilize a zero-based budget to improve the efficiency of the city’s budget. His support of Prop B will help secure higher pay for firefighters and police officers. Knowing that flooding is also one of the city’s major problems, Buzbee has identified three key points to address Houston’s flooding – storm surge, sheet flow, and river overflow – utilizing the drainage fee and the accompanying ad valorem tax that citizens voted on some years ago. Buzbee also wants to impose a Compstat style of crime control to put more police on the street instead of behind desks.

Buzbee holds degrees from Texas A&M University and the University of Houston Law Center. The former Marine operates his own law firm and sits on the Texas A&M Board of Regents. He has four children.

Bill King

Bill King knows that Houston can be an example to the rest of America on how to run a city properly by doing one thing – getting back to the basics. Utilizing his skill set and experience as a businessman and attorney King says he has a keen understanding of where Houston needs to improve and he has a method to start the process. All he needs to move forward is the backing of Houstonians.

Balancing the books, improving public safety, reducing flooding and fixing the streets are all major concerns of King. Standing firm on the belief that the city’s finances are corrupt, King wants to stop those who donated to political campaigns from doing business with the city. He wants to examine the ways money is spent to make it more efficient to create funding to properly pay police officers and firefighters. He has a plan to fix the city’s infrastructure by using the mandated lockbox for street and drainage improvements. Furthermore, King wants to clean up Houston streets by getting tough on those who illegally dump trash all over the city and clean up illegal dumpsites swiftly. Also on the horizon with King at the helm would be a charter amendment. In his own words, King said the goal would be to "safeguard against corruption, save taxpayer dollars and improve access to public information.”

King is a product of the Houston area. With roots planted in Clear Lake, he holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Houston. The former president of Southwest Airport Services, Inc. is a charitable man working with numerous charities and organizations. The former mayor of Kemah was also a former attorney and a columnist for the Houston Chronicle.

Sue Lovell

Sue Lovell is a natural civil servant. Serving on Houston City Council for six years, the former Vice Mayor Pro Tem wants to be Houston’s next leader. The mother and grandmother have knowledge of the city’s handling of transportation, infrastructure, and aviation. She will use her knowledge and business experience to honor the trust and deliver the commitment citizens expect for public safety and efficiency of services.

Lowell is a proponent of making public safety better and like all candidates wants to improve the city’s infrastructure. She backs the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association in their fight for equal and supports Prop B.

Lovell is from Fresno, California and came to Houston in 1970 at the age of 19 with $35. She previously served on Houston City Council from 2006-2012.

Sylvester Turner

Sylvester Turner is asking voters for four more years to invest in the dream of a better Houston. Always living by the philosophy “If you can dream it, you can do it,” Mayor Turner believes in people and the right to lift their voice for what is right. From helping his neighbors in Acres Homes to helping his constituents across Texas, Turner is a man of and for the people.

Since he has been in office Mayor Turner has a lofty list of accomplishments. His website notes how he saved the city from bankruptcy by addressing the pension crisis, creating jobs to better the economy, filling gaps in the budget, fixing potholes, and who can forget the biggest parties we hosted – the Super Bowl and World Series Champions Houston Astros. He has put Houston on the map representing the city locally and around the world.

Looking to the future Mayor Turner wants to continue what he started by being focused on flood recovery, prevention and mitigation efforts, easing the headaches of bumper-to-bumper traffic, improving infrastructure, and upgrading transportation by working with METRO. Furthermore, he wants to make more complete communities where all Houstonians will have access to affordable housing, great schools and parks, grocery stores and more.

Mayor Turner is a native Houstonian via the Acres Homes area. Holding degrees from the University of Houston and Harvard School of Law, Mayor Turner founded Barnes & Turner law firm and was the former State Rep for House District 139.

Others running for Mayor of Houston:

Kendall Baker is a pastor and businessman that want to make the pay of firefighters and police officers the same as national standards within his first month on the job. He also wants to ensure Houston gets it to share of the $41 billion to resolve flooding issues. He wants to take an analytical look at city departments and empower city council members to ensure taxpayers are getting the most from their dollars.

Derrick Broze is a freelance investigative journalist, author, and public speaker. According to his website, he wants to decriminalize Cannabis, initiate a moratorium on the 5g rollout, and put an end to surveillance in Houston as well as ending the “anti-food sharing” ordinance and No-Knock raids by Houston Police.

Naoufal Houjami is an entrepreneur, author, politician, and US National Security Strategist that has worked for five years on an 11 point strategic plan of action to solve Houston’s problems. Highlights of the plan include lowering the abuse of power by creating a general manager for the city and addressing affordable housing by creating a mortgage assistance program.

Victoria Romero is a product of immigrant parents from El Salvador that was placed in the foster care system when she was four-years-old with her siblings. Those beginnings taught her all about family values and serving her community. She wants to utilize her talents to provide better access to public education, cost-efficient solutions to solve Houston’s infrastructure problems, an audit of city finances with an independent committee, fair wages for all employees, and affordable home buying and leasing options.

Demetria Smith is fighting against poverty, injustice, and oppression in the race to be Houston’s next mayor. The mother of six wants to keep families in their homes with more resources through public and private funding. She supports Prop B. She is an advocate for allowing the voice of millenniums to be heard and welcomes more women leadership roles.

Johnny “J.T.” Taylor is a native Houstonian with a wife, two daughters and five sons so he knows about balancing a budget for a multitude. Using his personal life experience, 30 years of corporate experience, and his training by the U.S. Navy he wants to lead Houston as mayor making citizens stronger together. Issues at the top of his list include balancing the budget, implementing Prop B, monetizing city own real estate, and hiring more women for leadership roles.

Roy J. Vasquez was born and raised in Houston. He has seen the growth and changes. As mayor, he wants to enforce the city’s no camping laws to get the homeless off the streets and provide them with job opportunities. He wants to address the stray animals' problems by encouraging people to adopt and microchip their pets. He also has plans to better the environment, decrease flooding, and stop government corruption.