Chris Hollins (politician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chris Hollins
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Hollins in 2023
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| City Controller of Houston | |
| Assumed office January 2024 |
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| County Clerk of Harris County | |
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Acting
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| In office June 1, 2020 – November 17, 2020 |
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| Preceded by | Diane Trautman |
| Succeeded by | Teneshia Hudspeth |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Christopher George Hollins
July 8, 1986 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | Morehouse College (BA) Yale University (JD) Harvard University (MBA) |
Christopher George Hollins, born on July 8, 1986, is an American attorney and politician. He currently serves as the City Controller of Houston. Before this, he was the temporary Harris County Clerk from June to November 2020. He is well-known for managing the 2020 United States presidential election in Harris County. Many of his ideas for voting faced challenges from state officials.
In February 2022, he announced he would run for mayor of Houston. However, in April 2023, he decided to run for city controller instead. On December 9, 2023, Hollins was elected as the City Controller of Houston.
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About Chris Hollins
His early life and education
Chris Hollins was born on July 8, 1986, and is a fourth-generation Houstonian. His father worked for the Houston Police Department. Chris grew up in Missouri City, Texas, and went to Hightower High School.
After high school, he attended Morehouse College. There, he earned a degree in political science. Later, he studied law at Yale Law School. He also earned a business degree from Harvard Business School.
His career before politics
Chris Hollins is a lawyer. Early in his career, he worked for big companies like Goldman Sachs. He also worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
His time as Harris County Clerk
Becoming the interim clerk
On May 16, 2020, Chris Hollins was chosen to be the temporary Clerk for Harris County, Texas. He was appointed after the previous clerk, Diane Trautman, resigned due to health reasons. At 33 years old, Hollins was the youngest person to hold this job. He was also the first African American to be the Harris County Clerk. He started his new role on June 1, 2020.
What the County Clerk does
The Harris County Clerk's Office handles many important tasks. It manages permits and other official documents. It is also in charge of all election duties for Harris County. Hollins suggested a plan to separate election duties from the Clerk's Office. He wanted a new, separate position called the Harris County Elections Administrator. Because of his efforts, Isabel Longoria became the first person to hold this new position on November 18, 2020.
Hollins's time as clerk ended on November 17, 2020. Teneshia Hudspeth, who was newly elected, took over the role. During and after his time as Clerk, Hollins appeared on many news programs. He discussed the elections in Harris County.
Changes to voting in 2020
Chris Hollins played a big part in the 2020 United States presidential election in Texas. He spoke out against Texas Governor Greg Abbott's decision. The governor allowed only one ballot drop-off box per county.
Hollins wanted to send mail-in ballot applications to every registered voter in Harris County. However, this plan was challenged by Republican officials. The Supreme Court of Texas blocked his plan in October 2020.
Hollins also introduced other new ways to vote. These included:
- More places for people to vote in person.
- The option for people to vote from their cars (drive-through voting).
- New safety rules for voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Extending voting hours, including 24-hour voting.
Days before the election, on November 1, 2020, the Supreme Court of Texas rejected a challenge. This challenge tried to stop about 127,000 votes cast through drive-through voting. Two days later, a federal judge also supported the drive-through votes.
On September 7, 2021, Governor Abbott signed a new voting law. This law made it harder for counties to expand voting options. It was a response to the changes Hollins made. This new law was supposed to start before the 2022 primary elections. However, it has been held up in federal court.
Other political work
In 2009, Chris Hollins was an intern at the White House. This was during the presidency of Barack Obama. He worked in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. This office helps choose people for presidential appointments.
After being County Clerk, Hollins joined the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County. He also served as the former Vice Chair of the Texas Democratic Party.
Running for Houston City Controller
In February 2022, Hollins announced he would run for mayor of Houston. He wanted to take over from Sylvester Turner, who could not run again. In the first five months, Hollins raised $1.1 million for his campaign.
On April 6, 2023, Hollins decided to leave the mayoral race. He chose to run for city controller instead. He mentioned that Sheila Jackson Lee joining the mayoral race influenced his decision. Hollins did not support any other mayoral candidates.
In the city controller race, Hollins ran against Orlando Sanchez, Dave Martin, and Shannon Nobles. Many saw Hollins and Sanchez as the main candidates. In the first round of voting, Hollins received 45% of the votes. Sanchez got 27%. Since neither reached over 50%, they went to a runoff election. On December 8, Hollins won the runoff against Sanchez.
