When we established Term Limits for the Houston City Council, we had Council Members who had been serving in office for decades. It seemed like the only way we could move them would be to limit their terms. There was much enthusiasm about the idea.

When a person has been serving on Council for 30 years, people begin to feel that they absolutely cannot be beat. As we approach the 20 year mark, it is important to remember that this type of longevity is what led Houston voters to enthusiastically support the adoption of Term Limits.

At the time, there was a wave sweeping the country and Members of Congress were even pushing the same issue.

The counter argument has always been that in a democracy, term limits are not necessary. With representative government, you always have the option to run against and defeat people in office.

And yet, incumbents have a way of remaining victorious. With the professionalism and sophistication of campaigns in the last half of the 20th century, incumbency has become ever more powerful. It takes money to win elections and incumbents have all the access to the dollars.

As I have previously pointed out, no Mayor has been defeated since Term Limits were adopted and only a rare Council Member has lost a race. Several Council Members have given up a district seat to run At-Large for better political positioning but it has been very rare to see an incumbent defeated. For that matter, most Mayors and Council Members will experience only token opposition or even run unopposed.

Mayor Lee P. Brown experienced the most competitive re-election campaigns we have witnessed since Term Limits were adopted. It appears that Parker will have smooth sailing this year.

The race to watch will be Council Member Jolanda Jones. With an ethics investigation and her super-charged personality, she will likely face serious opposition again this cycle. She narrowly won re-election last time. A couple of people have already indicated their interest in running against her – Laurie Robinson, a businesswoman has made her intent known as well as a physician named Joe Edmonds. She is definitely facing competition this cycle.

We’ll watch this race closely to see if an incumbent Council Member seeking re-election to her last time will have a competitive race.