Democrat White, Republican Sanchez in Houston mayor runoff

MICHAEL GRACZYK

Published
6:00 pm CST, Tuesday, November 4, 2003

Associated Press Writer

The race for Houston mayor, already the most expensive in the city's history, is going to get even more costly.

Millionaire former Texas Democratic Party chairman Bill White used his personal wealth as part of a record $6 million yearlong spending spree, falling short of the 50 percent needed to win outright Tuesday but enough to clinch a spot in a runoff where he'll face former city councilman Orlando Sanchez, a Republican.

With all precincts counted, White led Sanchez, 112,866 to 98,565, or 38 percent to 33 percent, in Tuesday's balloting. Eliminated was seven-term state Rep. Sylvester Turner, another Democrat, who had 87,238, or 29 percent, and six other candidates who collected only a handful of votes.

The runoff will be within a month.

White, 49, contributed $2.2 million to his campaign, and more than doubled the spending of his opponents combined. He defended the expenditures in his first run for office as necessary to establish his identity, something Sanchez and Turner, making their second bids to lead the nation's fourth-largest city, already had.

"I'll just do what we've been doing, working every neighborhood, letting people know my background, letting people know the management experience I've had," White said.

"They want real solutions to fixing streets, getting traffic moving and somebody who will improve basic city services. And that's what I'm good at. I think we'll come out ahead."

White, who promised to be independent of party labels, noted his support came from across neighborhood and party lines. The contention was backed up in exit polls taken for the Houston Chronicle, which showed 27 percent of voters who identified themselves as Republicans supported him, while 58 percent of Republicans voted for Sanchez and 8 percent for Democrat Turner. Those polls also showed White got 35 percent of Hispanic voters, 17 percent of black voters, 55 percent of white voters and 70 percent of Asian-American voters.

Sanchez, however, predicted the runoff would be "a completely different race."

"When you're being outspent, and you're neck and neck, that's a good sign," he said. "In the runoff, they don't count money, they count votes. We're going to out to every neighborhood, tell people we're going to cut their taxes, fix their streets…

"We were outspent nearly 4-1. I still believe Houstonians understand the mayor's office is not for sale."

White, 49, is a lawyer, businessman and former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration. More recently, he's been president and chief executive officer of a real estate and engineering conglomerate with ties to the energy industry.

Sanchez, 46, born in Cuba and bidding to become Houston's first Hispanic mayor, is managing director of an asset management firm. He served six years on Houston's city council and lost to incumbent Lee Brown in a runoff two years ago. Brown made no endorsements in the race and was barred by term limits from seeking a fourth two-year term.

Although technically nonpartisan, the race took on increased partisan tones with the Harris County GOP aiding Sanchez, who received the endorsement of nearly every Republican statewide office holder in Texas, where the GOP holds every statewide elected post.

Sanchez' campaign turned negative in the final weeks leading up to Tuesday's voting as he branded White a liberal and tied him to Brown's estimated $20 million city budget deficit and to the bankrupt Enron Corp.

White, who considers himself mainstream, a fiscal conservative and disciplined manager, called the attacks ridiculous and inaccurate.