Harris County Election Results

Yesterday was election day and today we have the results. Propositions pass and candidates are elected with a simple majority of anything over 50%. For all races where candidates did not pass the 50% threshold, the top two candidates will go into a runoff election to be held on December 14th.

Of the over 2 million Harris County residents registered to vote only about 200,000 voted.

State Propositions

One of the approved propositions that may be an issue in the future is State Prop 4. Now, instead of a simple majority vote allowing for an income tax, it also needs to be a constitutional amendment, passed by 2/3rd of the Texas House and Senate.

Most Texas income comes from property and sales taxes, which are inequitable since they are not dependent on how much income you have, but rather on if you own property in Texas or purchase goods in Texas. Low-income residents who have homes and need to purchase goods end up paying a disproportionate amount of taxes in comparison to higher income individuals. If the state or cities need to increase income it will most definitely turn to raising sales and property taxes as implementing an income tax has become that much more difficult.

Proposition 4: Approved

Making it more challenging for future lawmakers to enact a personal income tax, requiring support from two-thirds – instead of a simple majority – of the House and Senate and a majority of Texas voters. Read more.

State proposition information originally appeared on the Texas Tribune. Click here to see full results.

Houston Mayoral Race (Going to Runoff)

Sylvester Turner 47%
Tony Buzbee 23%

Houston City Controller Race

Chris Brown 53%

Metro Proposition A

Allows Metro to issue 3.5 billion dollars in bonds to expand Metro service throughout the city. This allows Metro to move forward with a plan to improve public transportation in Houston. An additional 3.5 billion dollars in matching funds is expected from the Federal government.

Passed with 68%

Houston City Council Elections


At Large 1 (Going to Runoff)
Mike Knox 36%
Raj Salhotra 22%

At Large 2 (Going to Runoff)
David Robinson 38%
Willie Davis 27%

At Large 3 (Going to Runoff)
Michael Kubosh 48%
Janaeya Carmouche 22%

At Large 4 (Going to Runoff)
Anthony Dolcefino 21%
Letitia Plummer 16%

At Large 5 (Going to Runoff)
Sallie Alcorn 23%
Eric Dick 20%

See full election results here from KHOU 11.