1991 Houston mayoral election

The Houston Mayoral Election of 1991 took place on November 5, 1991. The race was officially non-partisan. Bob Lanier defeated five term incumbent mayor Kathy Whitmire. A run-off election was held on December 7, 1991.

1991 Houston mayoral election

← 1989 November 5, 1991 (first round)
December 7, 1991 (runoff)
1993 →
 
Candidate Bob Lanier Sylvester Turner Kathy Whitmire
First round 138,096
43.8%
113,782
36.1%
63,613
20.2%
Runoff 152,792
53.1%
135,173
46.9%
Eliminated

Mayor before election

Kathy Whitmire

Elected mayor

Bob Lanier

Most white voters of all economic levels voted for Lanier. His strongest tallies came from affluent neighborhoods like River Oaks, Meyerland, Uptown, Memorial and Sharpstown; in those areas he won with 60 to 65 percent or more of the vote. Lanier won 75 percent of the votes in his home Houston precinct. In racially mixed areas such as Westbury and Alief, Lanier had the majority of votes with his main opponent, Sylvester Turner, having finished in a close second place. Lanier did not win in Montrose and many African-American neighborhoods.[1][2]

Candidates

edit


Results

edit
Houston mayoral election, 1991
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Bob Lanier 138,096 43.77
Nonpartisan Sylvester Turner 113,782 36.07
Nonpartisan Kathy Whitmire (incumbent) 63,613 20.16
Total votes 315,491 100.00
Houston mayoral election, 1991 Run-off
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Bob Lanier 152,792 53.06
Nonpartisan Sylvester Turner 135,173 46.94
Total votes 287,965 100.00

Turner would later campaign in 2003 but took third place. He won the mayoral runoff on December 12, 2015.

References

edit
  1. ^ Rodriguez, Lori (November 9, 1991). "Saying goodbye, with no regrets". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Bernstein, Alan; Simmon, Jim (November 7, 1991). "Black vote went solidly for Turner/Whitmire failed to produce split". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2020.