• "The numbers are very, very, very encouraging," Mayor Sylvester Turner said of the early returns Tuesday night. "We're gonna make the runoff," Tony Buzbee said Tuesday night. "We're going to win." Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer & Melissa Phillip, Staff Photographer/Houston Chronicle
Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Staff Photographer & Melissa Phillip, Staff Photographer/Houston Chronicle
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"The numbers are very, very, very encouraging," Mayor Sylvester Turner said of the early returns Tuesday night. "We're gonna make the runoff," Tony Buzbee said Tuesday night. "We're going to win."
Mayor Sylvester Turner is headed to a December runoff against millionaire trial lawyer Tony Buzbee, according to unofficial results that showed the incumbent failing to secure a majority of votes in Tuesday's election.
Turner, who for most of the night hovered just below the threshold needed to avoid a runoff, finished with a wide lead over Buzbee but short of the majority required for an outright win.
Bill King, an attorney and businessman who narrowly lost a 2015 runoff to Turner but struggled this time to compete financially with Buzbee, finished in third place and well behind Buzbee, unofficial results showed.
Councilman Dwight Boykins, who competed with Turner for the support of Democratic and black voters, trailed in fourth place, while former councilwoman Sue Lovell was in sixth. Seven other candidates combined for the remaining share of the vote.
Just after 10 p.m., Turner stepped to the stage of the third-floor ballroom at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, surrounded by local and statewide officials, including Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, all Democrats, as the crowd yelled, “Four more years!”
“The numbers are very, very, very encouraging, in fact, I would say they are super encouraging,” Turner said. “We’re almost there. We know it’s going to be a long evening … but today was an incredible day of voting.”