John Whitmire

John Harris Whitmire (born August 13, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who is the 63rd mayor of Houston, Texas, the most populous city in Texas.

Under pressure from the Federal courts, the 1971 legislature drew up Texas's first single-member district plan for the House of Representatives.

Whitmire's political science professor Richard Murray was the one to inspire him to run for office as he illustrated the newly drawn district lines that encompassed Whitmire's neighborhood.

Whitmire won the primary following a runoff election and easily defeated his Republican opponent.

His father provided him with a $5,000 loan for his campaign funds.

Whitmire served in the Texas House with colleagues Gene Green, Craig Washington, and Mickey Leland and eventually finished his undergraduate degree.

In his early years, he was not seen as a particularly influential legislator, and he was criticized by Texas Monthly magazine for his low impact.

He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 through 1983.

He began his law studies at the Bates College of Law (now the University of Houston Law Center), then passed the bar in 1981 while still serving in the House.

He did not graduate, as state law at the time allowed legislators entrance to the bar without a full J.D.

In 1982, Senator Jack Ogg vacated his seat to pursue the Attorney General position.

A member of the Democratic Party, Whitmire was a member of the Texas State Senate from 1983 to 2023, representing District 15, which included much of northern Houston.

Whitmire captured the Senate District 15 seat, taking office in 1983.

He also served as the Acting Governor of Texas in 1993 as part of the "Governor for a Day" tradition.

In November 2021, Whitmire announced his candidacy for mayor of Houston in the 2023 election.

In November 2023, he advanced to a runoff with Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.

He won the runoff on December 9, 2023.

Whitmire was born in Hillsboro, Texas, north of Waco, to James Madison Whitmire, the Hill County clerk, and the former Ruth Marie Harris, a nurse.

His parents divorced when he was seven years old, and the family moved several times, facing difficult financial circumstances.

In his early teenage years, he moved to North Houston and attended Waltrip High School.

Whitmire attended college at the University of Houston to study political science while paying for his education by working for the Texas State Welfare Department, where he interviewed food stamp recipients for compliance.

In 1993, Whitmire was appointed by Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock as Chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where he oversaw reforms to the penal code and increased construction of prisons, to a generally favorable reception.

Whitmire remained the chair as of the eighty-seventh Texas Legislature.

Whitmire passed legislation to free the Texans who were imprisoned as a result of the Tulia drug raid.

That incident resulted in the conviction of 38 Texans based on the testimony of one individual who has since been indicted and arrested for perjury.

The legislation allowed the judge to release the prisoners on bond pending the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

On June 10, 2003, the Tulia defendants were freed on bond as provided for in Whitmire's legislation.

They were later pardoned by the Governor.

Whitmire was angered by convicted murderer Lawrence Russell Brewer's refusal to eat the expensive last meal he ordered prior to his September 21, 2011, execution.

Whitmire said that this was Brewer's attempt to "make a mockery out of the process."

The senator contacted the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and asked the agency to end the practice of last meal requests or he would get the State Legislature to pass a bill doing so.

The agency replied that last meal requests were accommodated "within reason" from food available in the prison kitchen, but it agreed to end the practice immediately at Whitmire's insistence.

In 2021, Whitmire stirred controversy by responding to questions about the lack of air conditioning in prisons by saying: “You know, we can talk about this all day, it’s not gonna change.

The prisons are hot.

They’re uncomfortable.

And the real solution is, don’t commit a crime and you stay at home and be cool.

We’re not gonna air condition them.

Whitmire won reelection to the state Senate in the general election held on November 6, 2018.

With 152,728 votes (65.2 percent), he defeated the Republican candidate, Randy Orr, who polled 75,423 (32.2 percent).

Another 6,266 votes (2.7 percent) went to the Libertarian choice, Gilberto "Gil" Velasquez, Jr. He resigned effectively from the State Senate on December 31, 2023 after his election as Mayor of Houston.