CAPITOL HILL CURSE — There’s still one more notable election left in 2023: the nonpartisan mayoral runoff tomorrow in Houston, Texas, the nation’s fourth most populous city. If you’re of the mind that the American governing class is a gerontocracy, this race might be a triggering event: Both candidates are septuagenarians, with over 80 years of state, local and congressional legislative experience between them. State Sen. John Whitmire, 74, has been in the Texas legislature since the Nixon administration; Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, 73, was elected to Congress during Bill Clinton’s first term. In an ordinary election year, it might not attract much notice. But with 81-year-old President Joe Biden running for a second term and 77-year-old Donald Trump appearing as his likely challenger, age is getting heightened scrutiny in the Houston contest. Unlike the Chicago and L.A. mayoral races earlier this year, this one is relatively low on drama and not especially contentious: crime and affordable housing are among the most prominent issues. Whitmire occupies the more moderate lane, while Jackson Lee, who is vying to become the city’s first Black female mayor, is positioned to his left. In the crowded, 18-person Nov. 7 election, Whitmire came out on top with 43 percent of the vote, followed by Jackson Lee with 36 percent. Armed with more money and leading in polls, he is thought to have an edge in Saturday’s runoff. Jackson Lee may also have to overcome another hurdle — her service in Congress. Over the past quarter-century, sitting House members who have run for big-city mayoralties have posted a relatively poor record of success. While Karen Bass made the leap from Congress to Los Angeles mayor earlier this year, the last three House members to run for City Hall in Chicago — Bobby Rush, Danny Davis and Chuy Garcia, who ran earlier this year — have fallen short. In 2007, both Philadelphia congressmen who ran — Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah — lost in the Democratic primary. Prior to that, in 2001, then-Rep. Xavier Becerra won just 6 percent in an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid in Los Angeles. Four years later, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner lost his bid in New York City. They were preceded by John Conyers, who made two unsuccessful bids for mayor while serving in Congress. The last House member to win a big-city mayor’s office before Bass? That was Bob Filner, who won in San Diego in 2012. But things didn’t go well for Filner: Within a year, he resigned following multiple allegations of sexual harassment. Jackson Lee can at least take solace in the historical record. Among the prominent mayors who made the direct leap from Congress to City Hall were James Michael Curley in Boston and Thomas D’Alesandro Jr. (now better known as Nancy Pelosi’s father) in Baltimore. In New York, there was John Lindsay, who was first elected mayor in the 1960s, followed by Ed Koch, who served as mayor for much of the 1980s. In 1983, one of the most historically important mayors of all came from the House: Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington. If Jackson Lee fails to stage an upset, though, she’ll join the long catalog of politicians who discovered voters didn’t take Congress seriously enough to entrust the city to someone who served there. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com . Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie .
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