Mayoral race collation announcement suspended as incumbent Sylvester Turner takes a commanding lead

International Guardian Houston, TX – As the results from Tuesday’s election gradually trickled in, Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner took a commanding lead over his two closest rivals, Anthony Buzbee and Bill King.

With 23 percent of the votes in, as of press time, Mayor Turner led with 47 percent, compared to Tony Buzbee with 29 percent and Bill King with 13 percent. If Mayor Turner doesn’t reach a 50 percent benchmark, he would face the second winner in a runoff election.

But statistical analysis so far shows a minute chance of any runoff. “Mayor Turner needs just three percent to retain his tenure, and his victory is a matter of Time”, a senior aide in his campaign office told International Guardian.

Earlier in the evening, Mayor Turner mounted the stage of the third-floor ballroom at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston to avow his confidence as the crowd yelled, “Four more years!”  According to mayor Turner, “The numbers are very, very, very encouraging, in fact, I would say they are super encouraging…We’re almost there. We know it’s going to be a long evening … but today was an incredible day of voting.”

Mayor Turner was surrounded by local and statewide officials, including Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and U.S. Reps. Sylvia Garcia, Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green.

His closest rival, Buzbee also made an appearance at a different location telling his supporters,  “We’re gonna make the runoff…we are going to win.”

Turner has been Houston Mayor since 2016 after he defeated King in a runoff election in 2015. Along with the mayoral race, several city council, Houston Community College trustee and Houston Independent School District trustee seats were on the ballot.

The County Clerk’s Office had issued a release indicating a delay in counting process. The Office promised to announce the results as soon as they are available.

International Guardian – Houston, TX. A minute-by-minute election coverage of a nerve-wracking 2019 Houston’s citywide election coverage has been interrupted by unprecedented delays at County Clerk’s Office. As of 11:56 p.m. an official report provided results from 176 voting centers while the Central Counting Board worked diligently processing figures in what the County office described as “a secure and efficient manner.”

At 2:30 a.m. however, the county issued a statement:

“Due to the delay in election results, our office will not be able to accommodate any media requests for early morning newscasts, including access to the election office.  The final unofficial results will be emailed as soon as they are available, but the next media availability will not be until 2 p.m. at the Harris County Clerk’s Office at 201 Caroline, 4th floor conference room.”

The delays are anticipated, International Guardian gathered. It may be recalled that late in October, the Secretary of State issued an election advisory requiring Harris County Clerk’s office and law enforcement to drive mobile ballot box cards from each of the 757 Election Day polling sites to the downtown central counting station.

The previous plan, considered more effective, required bringing the cards to ten drop-off sites spread around the county to transmit electronically.

Meanwhile, incumbent, Sylvester Turner currently leads mayoral race over his closest contenders, Anthony Buzbee and Bill King. With 23 percent of the votes in, as of press time, Mayor Turner led with 47 percent, compared to Tony Buzbee with 29 percent and Bill King with 13 percent. If Mayor Sylvester Turner doesn’t reach the 50 percent mark needed to win in Tuesday’s election, a runoff election would be held.