Kamin is best for District C
Council member, civil rights attorney runs a campaign on safety, women and families, economic opportunity and affordable housing.
Abbie Kamin was the city’s first pregnant council member, a title she wore proudly and that informed her own advocacy around the horseshoe at City Hall.
“That really opened my eyes to a lot,” she told us. She faced her own challenges trying to figure out how much time off after the birth of her child she would get as someone who’s not officially a city employee but is eligible for city benefits. And she realized city employees, meanwhile, had no paid leave, just unpaid leave guaranteed through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
As a result, Kamin, 36, helped champion paid parental leave for city employees. She also led Houston’s first women’s commission, looking at health and economic disparities. That’s on top of representing District C, the busiestbody district of them all if measured by 311 calls and civic clubs, which has kept Kamin busy, whether it’s handing out rain barrels to constituents or smoothing out the Washington-Westcott roundabout.
She’s not afraid of bumps, either. Her district includes the Heights, Meyerland and the historic epicenter of gay Houston, Montrose. That’s part of what prompted her to vote against hosting the Republican convention in 2028. And when a $4.2 million contract to retread the city’s truck tires came across her desk, Kamin along with Councilmember Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, sent it back to the administration when they realized that the reason that particular bid, from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, had done so well is because the state agency would
be using the unpaid labor of inmates. Now, thanks to Kamin’s advocacy in part, the city has a policy that requires subcontractors to pay for labor.
This time around, the civil rights attorney is running a campaign on safety, women and families, economic opportunity and affordable housing – something her prohibitively expensive district desperately needs. We share these goals and think Kamin is by and large up to the task.
We were troubled, though, by her response during our candidate screening to one of her own constituents, and challengers, Perata Bradley, 38, who confronted Kamin about the city's longtime failure to protect the legacy residents of Freedmen’s Town. Bradley’s family history goes back generations in the historic neighborhood founded by formerly enslaved people. With a background in the arts and nonprofit grant writing, Bradley says she’s seen how the city and other entities often prioritize projects that enhance tourism but not necessarily the quality of life and affordability for residents who have seen gentrification and redevelopment largely consume the area.
“Our structures, the streets, that’s been more of a priority,” Bradley said.
The historical record is clear here: the city has played a significant role in that loss of community. Kamin’s response was disappointingly defensive. Whether or not Kamin has had an active hand here, she should certainly understand and be receptive to the criticism that Houston could be doing more to protect communities at risk of displacement and the complicated dynamics of promoting heritage tourism.
While Bradley was a bit green, she was attuned to issues that deserve attention in the district, including domestic violence, the need for jobs that pay liveable wages and the lack of transparency in the use of Public Finance Corporations to support affordable housing construction. We hope Kamin learns to listen to constituents like Bradley, who we hope to see again in city politics.
For now, Kamin has done a deft job navigating the ropes of city government and we’d like to see her continue her work for a second term, launching a firearm dashboard, gaining an improved understanding of the costs of our broken water pipe infrastructure and how to fix it, and working toward increased housing affordability, especially for renters and would-be first-time homebuyers.