At first glance, the first poll to come out regarding the race for Mayor sent a bit of a chill down my spine, with the revelation that Sheila Jackson Lee would fall short in a run-off. Then, Kuff calmed my fears a little with his assessment of what is only a first poll of the race.
Then, when one finds out that it is republinut voters who by far support John Whitmire, well, Sheila Jackson Lee’s path to victory seems a little clearer in a run-off. Ultimately, it’s all about turn-out.
Whitmire’s edge over Jackson Lee in a runoff came largely from his anticipated sweep of Republican votes, with a whopping 88 percent of GOP respondents favoring him over Jackson Lee.
Whitmire has earned the support of election deniers and bigots, it seems, as well as a majority of independents, at this point in time. No doubt, this poll does show that those who support Jackson Lee are strong in their support, and those who support Whitmire probably are voting against Jackson Lee more than anything. Just my guess.
Who turns out in a lower turnout run-off election is the bigger question.
While the Rice U guy seems to treat this snapshot as the end-all look at this race, considering his comments, it’s only the first poll. Frankly, I didn’t get interested until I saw the fundraising numbers, and there is so much more on the news in which people are interested. We haven’t even arrived at actual campaign messaging at this point.
So, this race for Mayor is far from over.
Besides, the more one panders and sells one’s soul to republicans, the better a view Democrats will have about a candidate.