{"id":29141,"date":"2022-02-25T20:41:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T20:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/ahead-of-mayoral-bid-state-sen-john-whitmire-faces-unexpected-test-in-primary-senate-race\/"},"modified":"2022-02-25T20:41:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T20:41:32","slug":"ahead-of-mayoral-bid-state-sen-john-whitmire-faces-unexpected-test-in-primary-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/ahead-of-mayoral-bid-state-sen-john-whitmire-faces-unexpected-test-in-primary-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of mayoral bid, state Sen. John Whitmire faces unexpected test in primary Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ad_1]<\/p>\n

On the last day for candidates to file for the 2022 primary in Texas, things were looking good for state Sen. John Whitmire.<\/p>\n

The longtime Democrat, sitting on an $11 million campaign war chest, had recently announced<\/a> his plan to run for mayor of Houston in 2023. The more pressing matter \u2014 Whitmire\u2019s re-election to the state Senate in 2022 \u2014 seemed a mere formality, with the filing deadline hours away and no other Democrat running in his deep-blue district.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

Instead, Whitmire drew a last-minute challenge from Molly Cook, an emergency room nurse and progressive activist who appears to be the incumbent senator\u2019s most formidable opponent in decades.<\/p>\n

The longest-serving member of the Senate, Whitmire is heading into Tuesday\u2019s election with clear-cut advantages over Cook, having outspent her roughly 3-to-1 and represented the district since nearly a decade before she was born. Still, Whitmire\u2019s declared \u2014 and potential \u2014 mayoral opponents are keeping a close eye on the contest, which poses a fresh test of the senator\u2019s electoral strength in a district that takes in a large chunk of the Houston electorate.<\/p>\n

Whitmire said he takes \u201ceach and every opponent very seriously,\u201d including Cook. He has shaped his re-election bid around his 39 years of experience in the Senate, arguing that his knowledge of the legislative process and presence on key committees \u2014 as chair of the Criminal Justice Committee and a member of the budget-shaping Finance and Business & Commerce committees \u2014 give him clout even in the Republican-dominated chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my chairmanship of Criminal Justice is reason alone for people to support me,\u201d said Whitmire, 72. \u201cExperience matters. \u2026 I don’t even think it’s a close call on who is prepared, from Day One, to represent Houston.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n KNOW THE CANDIDATES:<\/strong> Houston Chronicle voter guide <\/a>\/ San Antonio Express-News voter guide<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Though Cook, 30, is making her first run for elected office, she entered the race after spending more than a year as a lead organizer behind Stop TxDOT I-45, the group opposing the state transportation agency\u2019s controversial $7 billion plan<\/a> to remake Interstate 45 north of downtown Houston. She said her deep ties to grassroots organizing would shape her approach to serving in the Senate, vowing to seek input from community advocates through \u201cbottom-up planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Cook argues that Whitmire \u2014 who was elected to the House in 1972, while a senior at the University of Houston, before moving to the Senate a decade later \u2014 has lost touch with the district through his nearly half-century in office. She has also accused Whitmire of \u201crunning for two offices at once\u201d by way of his early mayoral announcement.<\/p>\n

Cook blasts Whitmire over private prison donors<\/h2>\n

At a forum in late January, Cook said Whitmire\u2019s \u201cway of doing things is no longer serving our district or our state. She touted her own \u201cfresh perspective and public health and policy expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSen. Whitmire has been in the Legislature since he was 23,\u201d Cook said. \u201cI have the experience of being a health care worker, making sacrifices to afford my health care, renting my home, and grassroots organizing. Sen. Whitmire is weighed down by experience, decades of campaign contributions, backroom deals and protecting personal political capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Whitmire insists that he is completely focused on his current election, and dismissed charges from Cook that he would already have one foot out the door during the 2023 legislative session. He noted that Mayor Sylvester Turner also ran for re-election to the state House in 2014, even as he was gearing up for a mayoral run the following year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing matters more to me right now than the Senate race. Any future race, we\u2019ll take up after this race. I see no conflict,\u201d Whitmire said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s just a smokescreen. My opponent had to say something. She’s not going to say I’m a good guy. She should, but, you know, there\u2019s no core Democratic issue to talk about. I voted nearly exactly like (state Sens.) Borris Miles and Carol Alvarado. We work very closely as a delegation.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n