UH alum John Whitmire's new mayoral role spurs first fight for Texas Senate seat in decades

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As the University of Houston's men's basketball team makes a run to the Final Four, one of its more prominent graduates ran for city hall and opened a Texas Senate seat that hasn't been up for grabs in decades.

John Whitmire graduated from UH and UH Law School. He was a student when he was first elected to the state legislature.

A decade later, he won a seat in the Texas Senate and kept it until he won the race for mayor. Now, there is a scramble to replace him in Austin.

The last time voters chose a new state senator in District 15, the Houston Cougars Men's basketball team, affectionately called Phi Slama Jama, finished the regular season No. 1 in the country and made a deep run in March Madness. That's how long ago Whitmire took the seat.

Now that he's mayor of Houston, the race for the Democrat nomination has gone into overtime. The runoff election on May 28 features a nurse against a sitting state representative.

Molly Cook is the nurse.

"We do not have a Democrat healthcare professional from Harris County in our state or federal delegation," she said. "I think that voice is missing."

She finished second in the general election to State Representative Jarvis Johnson.

"We still want to expand Medicaid and Medicare. We want to provide teachers with pay raises. We want to be able to fund education properly," she said.

Johnson bested Cook by over 15 percentage points in a five-person race but failed to reach the needed threshold to avoid the runoff. Now, they face off twice, in the runoff on May 28 and in a special election to fill the rest of Whitmire's current term.

"We need to make sure the person who gets there has experience because Senator Whitmire, now Mayor Whitmire takes with him 40 years of experience," Johnson said. "He takes with him years of relationships."

Cook said her education would help her form effective policy.

"I have a Masters in public health from Johns Hopkins University," she said, "and the beauty of that is that you can bring it to any committee and any issue."

The district is horseshoe-shaped and loops around the city from the east to the west. The winner will represent some 940,000 Texans in the next legislative session.

"I think it's an opportunity to hold accountable the lieutenant governor, the governor," Johnson said, "and bring my unique skills to the senate side."

Cook said the runoff is another chance to connect with voters.

"A runoff is a huge honor. We beat out well-funded and connected candidates," she said. "So it's a huge vote of confidence from the district, and it's a brand new race. So we are excite, and we are getting ready."

Both candidates know their work is cut out for them if they get to Austin and the state legislature. Republicans dominate both chambers and nothing Democrats propose is a slam dunk without reaching across the aisle.

There is a Republican running in the race. Joseph Trahan was unopposed in the primary. He'll face either Cook or Johnson in the general election in November.

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