HOUSTON — Who will be the next Houston mayor? A new survey sheds some light on the upcoming election.
According to the survey, even though there are 17 people running, the race will likely come down to two candidates.
The latest survey from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston shows a two-person race between Sen. John Whitmire and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
"When we look at the Nov. 7 election, the results tell us two things: John Whitemire and Sheila Jackson Lee are going to be the first- and second-place candidates in either order and second, they are both going to be below 50%, meaning we're going to a runoff," UH's Mark Jones said.
The survey showed that 34% of likely voters said they'd vote for Whitmire and 31% for Jackson Lee. The remaining candidates range from 4% to 0%.
Jones said the numbers aren't that surprising.
"This is very similar to the results from our July survey and what it shows is that none of the other candidates were able to grab any traction really between July and early October," Jones said.
As for the runoff in December between Whitmire and Jackson Lee, the survey showed that 50% would vote for Whitmire and 36% for Jackson Lee.
"He still is well on course for victory in November winning by a narrow margin over Sheila Jackson Lee and is, more importantly, still more than a dozen points ahead of her in the runoff," Jones said.
With less than four weeks to go until Election Day, more voters will be making up their minds about the candidates and the issues at hand.
The second part of UH's survey will be released next week. It will focus on policy issues facing the city and which ones matter most to voters.