Contact: press@protectandservetx.com
HOUSTON – June 22, 2023 – Today, Protect and Serve Texas PAC endorsed John Whitmire in the upcoming Houston Mayoral race, applauding his long-term, established track record of supporting law enforcement and first responders. Whitmire has consistently demonstrated his commitment to supporting those who put their lives on the line to keep our neighborhoods safe and has strongly rejected calls to “defund the police” or “reprogram” funds for law enforcement.
In laying out his plan to support law enforcement in Houston, Whitmire was clear:
"Before day one on the job as Mayor, I will be networking and coordinating a law enforcement surge, you might say, to the streets of Houston to protect homeowners," Whitmire said after receiving the endorsement of the Houston Police Officers’ Union in February.
When it came to Houston’s public safety and calls to “defund the police,” Whitmire did not mince words:
“We cannot allow the violence and the crime on the streets of Houston and Harris County to become the norm. We cannot be desensitized to the murders and other violent offenses,” Whitmire told Fox 26 Houston last year.
“The nonsense of experimenting with defunding police so you can then fund other programs is just wrong, and I think we’re living through some of the experiments. If we’re not safe, nothing else matters.”
Whitmire demanded more resources for law enforcement after Houston saw a spike in homicides last year:
“It is unbelievable to sit and watch the evening news of people being pistol-whipped at the retail store. They don’t want to go back to work. It’s impacting every element of our society, of working and living in Harris County,” Whitmire said during a press conference with the Harris County Deputies Organization (HCDO) in April 2022.
“We have a lot of work to do at every level of government in Harris County: the city, the county, the state, and even the federal government. The system is broken.”
Protect and Serve Texas PAC released the following statement after endorsing John Whitmire in the 2023 Houston Mayoral Election:
“We are proud to endorse John Whitmire to serve as Houston’s next mayor because we know he is the only candidate in the race willing to tackle rising crime and understaffing in police departments – which is becoming a growing crisis in Houston and other cities where politicians have abandoned law enforcement. Crime is by far the top issue on the minds of Houston voters, and it's no surprise that a majority of Houstonians say they’re afraid to walk at night and that they feel less safe than they did four years ago. November’s Mayoral election will be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to define the future of public safety in Texas’ largest city, and a referendum on the politicians across the state who have pushed policies attacking police as crime runs rampant in their own cities. We will never back down from fighting on behalf of the men and women who keep us safe – including all law enforcement and first responders, Police, Fire, and EMS – and we look forward to fighting alongside John Whitmire against the disastrous calls to defund police departments through November and beyond.”
Protect and Serve Texas PAC Spokesperson Donald Baker issued the following statement:
“John Whitmire has stood firmly in support of police and first responders his entire career, and he knows the destructive effect that demonizing law enforcement has had on recruitment and retention of officers who keep our neighborhoods safe. While other mayoral candidates have cheered and actively supported calls to ‘defund the police,’ Whitmire has stood firmly against the ‘nonsense’ of ‘reprogrammed dollars’ being stripped from police departments, leading to failed experiments in cities like Chicago and San Francisco, where crime has become out of control. We don’t need another out-of-touch mayor who turns their back on law enforcement; we need a mayor who has their backs.”
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Protect and Serve Texas is a political action committee (PAC) dedicated to supporting candidates across Texas who support public safety, back law enforcement and first responders, and work to decrease violent crime. Protect and Serve Texas also engages in ballot initiatives where support for law enforcement or first responders is on the ballot. Originally founded to counter the "Defund the Police" movement, Protect and Serve Texas PAC continues to advocate for the brave women and men in our state who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.
As a Harris County Republican start showing me what I NEED TO SEE!