Let the Names Drop ...

» Chron: City Council hopefuls starting to make plans (Kristen Mack)

All aboard the crazy train now ...

District D (currently held by Ada Edwards): Gerald Womack has to be seen as the front-runner, but I'm under the impression that Ada will not let her onetime rival peacefully succeed. Problem with that is as follows: loyalties are all over the map here. Not every Ada supporter shares the dislike of Womack. Secondly ... the dropoff after Womack is noticable: Alma Allen's son? Another HCC trustee? Cheryl Armitage? If Womack has healed enough wounds from his previous forays into south Houston campaigning, he might very well succeed without a runoff. But considering that there may be a coupla dozen names on this ballot, it's not a given. Still, I'd pencil him in as Ada's successor.

District E (currently held by Addie Wiseman): not my hood, but it looks like she's done the legwork to get her former staffer set up to succeed her.

District I (currently held by Carol Alvarado): I've yet to hear from anyone this side of Marc Campos who's impressed with Alvarado's staffer, James Rodriguez. I'm sure Alvarado's interest in his success will amount to a lot. But there's a difference between scaring off the competition with institutional strength (which seems to be at work here) and scaring them off with your own track record of community ties (see: Womack, Gerald).

At Large 3 (currently empty): No new news here. But I find it interesting that the Republican entrant is talking about being 75% committed to the race. Not a good choice of quotes there, Tommy Boy ;-)

At Large 5 (currently held by Boy Wonder): Score one for Kristen Mack unearthing a name for this one. I recall the Bill King for Mayor story way back when. Thought it odd then and find his interest here only slightly less odd. Not that Bill King hasn't struck me as a decent enough guy (an opinion that may or may not change down the road), but the open chatter about Mayor would seem to muddle this race if another serious entrant starts to think this race over.

I'm curious what progress Mack has made in prying the mind of my own councilman, MJ Khan. Every rumor I ever hear says he wants to run citywide. Of course, we all know he won't stand a chance (Republicans aren't fond of him and ... well ... he's a Republican). It's also curious why Khan, who ran for District F on a platform of longterm commitment to the district has sought every opportunity to bolt for an At Large seat before realizing that the support just isn't there for him. I've already heard a name or two for District F should it open up. All good names, at that.

Beyond that, there seems to be a dearth of quality names out there for At Large seats. Am I the only one that finds that a bit odd?