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As I enter my third month as the Houston Chronicle’s editor of opinion and community engagement, I thought it would be appropriate to start leading the section’s weekly Monday newsletter.
This is my first time taking on this sort of medium. Sure, I’ve been a prolific poster on Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and the public comment section of West University City Council meetings — but never a newsletter.
My hope is to use this newsletter to try to describe larger narratives from the individual pieces that we run in the opinion section, weaving together the singular threads into a wider tapestry of what’s happening in Houston, and get your feedback as a reader.
For example, this week we published our first endorsements for the upcoming 2025 election — supporting Jordan Thomas for the At Large 4 seat on City Council and Christian Menefee for the open 18th Congressional District. Both are experienced, with Thomas as a City Hall staffer and Menefee as county attorney. However, what stood out for both is that they each had a clear vision of how they could use their position to effectively move policy. That’s how they distinguished themselves in crowded fields.
Thomas, for example, has a theory of change based around City Council members' relatively new ability to force an item onto the city agenda with only three votes. Other candidates focused more on playing the insider game at City Hall or less antagonistic coalition-building, neither of which has been particularly effective under Mayor John Whitmire.
Menefee has a vision of leading in Congress not only as a legislator, but also as a litigator who could help unite Democrats under a cohesive legal strategy. As Atlantic writer Michael Scherer wrote last month, this approach has been one of the Democrats’ few proven tactics as a party in the minority. It has also been a tactic that Menefee has successfully wielded as Harris County Attorney, winning legal battles against Attorney General Ken Paxton, former Comptroller Glenn Hegar, and even President Donald Trump.
So here’s my question to you: Did we get it right?
Is this clarity of vision reason enough to back Thomas and Menefee, or are the other candidates better qualified for these seats?
Are there other candidates you’re more excited to vote for in the upcoming election?
Fill out our reader response form and let us know, or send an email to viewpoints@houstonchronicle.com
