THE HPOU POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE CAME REAL close to batting 1.000 in its Houston city election endorsements but misfired in only two races, one at-large and one at the council district level.
In reality, the major runoff election day achievement was Union support in the election of Houston’s next mayor, Sylvester Turner, the veteran state representative who has always been there for Houston police officers in state-related issues over the past three decades. Turner bested police pension crusader Bill King in the Dec. 12 runoff.
Both HPOU President Ray Hunt and Executive Director Mark Clark have stayed in close contact with Mayor-elect Turner throughout the election campaign. Both Hunt and Clark will tell you that along this route – particularly in the election night celebration – Sylvester Turner has been nothing but gracious and very, very appreciative for the avid HPOU support. We know we can count on him to be there for Houston officers and their best interests throughout his tenure.
Just days after that tenure is scheduled to begin, the new mayor will be present to swear in the new HPOU board members at the Jan. 7 general membership meeting. It will be a monumental occasion. We all will be happy that Sylvester prevailed over King and his anti-HPD campaign.
Only two runoff races kept HPOU PAC from achieving a perfect record this election year. The PAC picked first-term incumbent District F Councilman Richard Nguyen, who lost to challenger Steve Le, a physician who won by 230 votes.
In the At-Large Position 1, former HPD Officer Mike Knox defeated HPOU PAC-endorsed Georgia Provost by 3,474 votes.
Otherwise, the incumbents and first-time office seekers supported by the HPOU PAC won their races and took office the first of January.
This record of success is yet another solid reason why all HPOU members should commence contributing to the HPOU PAC as soon as possible. We believe it will go a long, long way toward a Happy New Year for all Houston police officers!
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