District B council runoff slated for Dec. 12
At long last, voters in the north Houston neighborhoods that make up City Council’s District B will get to select a new representative in December.
Visiting state District Judge Grant Dorfman on Monday ordered the long-delayed runoff to be held Saturday, Dec. 12, almost exactly a year after the election was originally scheduled last year. Tarsha Jackson, a criminal justice organizer, and Cynthia Bailey, a neighborhood advocate, will face off in the election.
That is the same date for any runoffs necessitated by the Nov. 3 general election.
The District B race has been held up amid contentious litigation filed by the third-place finisher in last year’s general election, Renee Jefferson-Smith. She filed two lawsuits contesting Bailey’s eligibility for public office, arguing her 2007 felony conviction for theft was disqualifying.
The Texas Election Code bars people with felony convictions from running for office unless they have been pardoned or otherwise “released from the resulting disabilities.” The law does not clearly define that phrase, which has led to varying interpretations. Bailey has asserted she is eligible because she completed her sentence.
While no judge ever ruled on the merits of Bailey’s eligibility, an appeals court in August upheld a lower court ruling that the city did not err by failing to remove Bailey from the ballot because her ineligibility was not conclusively proved. Jefferson-Smith declined to continue the appeals process, effectively ending the dispute.
Council member Jerry Davis, the incumbent set to leave office last January, has remained in the seat to ensure the district had representation during the legal fight. Davis narrowly was defeated in his July runoff against state Rep. Harold Dutton for the District 142 seat Dutton has held since 1985.
District B includes nearly 200,000 people from many historic north Houston neighborhoods, such as Acres Homes, Kashmere Gardens and Settegast. The district stretches up to include Greenspoint and Bush Intercontinental Airport. It has the second-highest concentration of Black residents, 47 percent, in the city.