Orlando Sanchez, left, and candidate Justin Ray, right, plan voter outreach during the 2020 elections. Sanchez announced this week he is running for City Controller, his second consecutive bid for the seat.
Michael Wyke / ContributorOrlando Sanchez, the former Harris County treasurer, City Council member and mayoral candidate, is running for city controller, his second consecutive run for the office.
Sanchez received 47.8 percent of the vote in 2019, losing to incumbent Chris Brown , who now faces term limits.
The controller is the city’s independently elected financial watchdog, processing city payments and making monthly and annual reports on the city’s financial outlook to City Council. It does not have the power to enact policies, but it can audit city departments and programs.
RELATED: Houston Controller Brown fends off challenger Sanchez for second term
Sanchez, a Republican, served as Harris County treasurer from 2006 to 2018. He held an at-large council seat from 1995 to 2001, and made two runs for mayor, in 2001 and 2003. He qualified for runoffs in both — nearly becoming the city's first Latino mayor — but ultimately lost to former Mayors Lee Brown and Bill White.
"I feel that my time serving this community as both treasurer and on City Council has made me uniquely qualified to oversee the controller’s office,” Sanchez said. "I have both public and private sector experience, running successful businesses, and holding public offices. I look forward to taking my service and experience and using it to improve the efficiency of the office to better serve Houstonians.”
BACKGROUND: Orlando Sanchez started a group to woo Latinos to the Texas GOP. Democrats are skeptical.
He joins an increasingly crowded field of candidates vying to become the next controller. Former Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins announced last week he was dropping his mayoral campaign to pursue the controller's office.
Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin, a longtime accountant who chairs City Council's budget committee, and At-Large Councilmember Michael Kubosh, a former bail bondsman, are running as well. Shannan Nobles, who works in the controller's office, also is vying the seat.
The city elections are Nov. 7. Residents can check their voter registration here .
dylan.mcguinness@houstonchronicle.com
