Mike Laster
Mike Laster is a former member of the Houston City Council in Texas, representing District J. He was first elected to the council in 2011.[1] He did not run for re-election in 2019 due to term limits.
Laster was the first openly gay city council member in Houston's history.[2]
Biography
Laster was born in San Pablo, California, but his family moved to Brown County, Texas, when he was very young. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. Laster has worked as an attorney specializing in real estate law. He joined Williams, Birnberg & Andersen, L.L.P. in 2002. Laster was a senior assistant city attorney in the real estate division from 1989 to 1995. He has experience with the following organizations:
- Board member/chairman, Sharpstown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and Redevelopment Authority (TIRZ)
- Secretary/founding board member, Greater Sharpstown Management District (GSMD)
- Board member/president, Sharpstown Civic Association[1]
Elections
2015
- See also: Houston, Texas municipal elections, 2015
The city of Houston, Texas, held elections for mayor and city council on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was August 24, 2015.[3] In the race for District J, incumbent Mike Laster and Jim Bigham defeaded Manny Barrera and Dung Le in the general election. Laster defeated Bigham in a runoff election on December 12, 2015.[4][5]
Incumbent Mike Laster defeated Jim Bigham in the runoff election.
| Houston City Council District J, Runoff election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mike Laster Incumbent |
64.7% | 3,672 |
| Jim Bigham | 35.3% | 2,004 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 5,676 | |
| Source: Harris County, Texas, "Runoff Election Results," December 12, 2015 | ||
| Houston City Council District J, General election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Mike Laster Incumbent |
43.6% | 3,157 |
| Jim Bigham |
21.2% | 1,533 |
| Manny Barrera | 20.8% | 1,509 |
| Dung Le | 14.4% | 1,045 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 7,244 | |
| Source: Harris County Texas, "Official general election results," accessed November 16, 2015 | ||
Campaign themes
2015
Laster's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[6]
Community values
- Excerpt: "Mike has undertaken efforts to secure more funding for our neighborhood parks. He has worked to strengthen District J’s super neighborhood councils while fighting against the negative effects of nightclubs, discos and bars."
Jobs
- Excerpt: "Mike has been working to expand economic development and provide for quality affordable homes for our residents. As our City Councilman, Mike has sought to attract new businesses and good-paying jobs to Southwest Houston while helping our local small businesses grow and prosper."
Safety
- Excerpt: "He has made sure police substations and fire stations in Southwest Houston are fully funded. He has supported law enforcement measures that focus police efforts against crime hot spots and reducing drug and gang activity in our community. He will continue to make sure that our firefighters and EMS personnel are equipped with state of the art life saving tools. He will keep up the fight to revitalize blighted properties and remove dangerous buildings."
Property taxes
- Excerpt: "Mike knows that families in Southwest Houston have been struggling to make ends meet, that’s why he has fought to keep property taxes low – so no family is taxed out of their home."
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
A member of the Trinity Episcopal Church, Laster has served as senior warden, a member of the Vestry and as a parish delegate to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Mike + Laster + Houston"
- All stories may not be relevant due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 City of Houston, "District J," accessed December 8, 2014 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Dallas Voice, "Laster becomes first out gay man on Houston City Council," November 8, 2011
- ↑ Harris County, "Important 2015 Election Dates," accessed January 12, 2015
- ↑ City of Houston website, "November 3, 2015 General Election Candidates," accessed August 27, 2015
- ↑ Harris County Texas, "Unofficial general election results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ Mike Laster campaign website, "Issues," accessed September 15, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Houston City Council, District J 2012–2020 |
Succeeded by Edward Pollard |
 |
State of Texas Austin (capital) |
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