HOUSTON — With the start of early voting approaching quickly, candidates to become Houston’s next mayor made one of their final pitches to voters at a debate on Thursday, Oct. 19.
The debate was hosted by Houston Public Media and Univision and featured most of the top candidates, according to polling. Among those who participated were John Whitmire, Lee Kaplan, Gilbert Garcia, Robert Gallegos and Jack Christie. Sheila Jackson Lee, one of the top two candidates along with Whitmire, according to recent polling, was not in attendance because of the ongoing House Speaker voting in Washington D.C.
Topics included the economy, infrastructure, housing and more.
But the night started with the top issue to likely voters: Addressing crime in Houston.
“We could use [the Department of Public Safety] to complement [the Houston Police Department] under HPD direction,” Whitmire said.
“Start by getting more people in the street and into the substations,” Kaplan added.
“We should hire more civilians to do the jobs that right now police officers are doing that are civilian work,” said Garcia.
A recent survey by the University of Houston found a majority of likely voters support policy proposals like hiring hundreds more officers to tackle crime.
“I can get you 500 more police by being a fiscal conservative on the budget,” Christie said.
“In regards to how we’re going to pay for it, we have a revenue cap,” Gallegos explained. “[We need to] educate the public so that we can go back on the ballot and it will be up to the voters to decide if they want to repeal the revenue cap.”
Jackson Lee sent KHOU 11 a video statement.
“I want us to be smart in crime fighting, which includes more officers but it also includes violence intervention programs,” Jackson Lee said in the recording.
The debate lasted one hour and featured nine questions to candidates along with opening and closing remarks.
Afterward, KHOU 11 spoke with the candidates one-on-one to ask what their feeling was heading into the last stretch of the campaign.
“We’re just going to keep talking about the issues that people care about,” Whitmire told us. “Don’t be distracted by attacks.”
“I’m hoping there’s a silent majority out there,” Gallegos said. “We need someone who can start on day one.”
“I think momentum is shifting for all of us,” Garcia said. “I think the two main candidates have been the main candidates for some time, but I think people are getting tired of the same old, same old answers from the same old, same old candidates.”
“The momentum is in our direction because we haven’t had a balanced budget and I’ve done it before and I’ve done it for many years,” Christie said.
“I’ll still be working until the last poll closes on November 7,” said Kaplan.
In her video statement, Jackson Lee added concluding remarks.
“There’s so much that we can work on together,” Jackson Lee said. “I’d like to be the mayor that takes Houston into the future.”