The city of Sugar Land held a special meeting May 14 to canvass the May 4 election, in which District 1 City Council Member Steve Porter and District 4 City Council Member Carol McCutcheon retained their seats.

Final totals indicate Mohammad "Jazz" Aijaz received 431 votes to Porter’s 1,370 votes. William Ferguson received 1,244 votes, while McCutcheon received 2,217, Mayor Joe Zimmerman announced during the meeting.

Additionally, Nabila Mansoor and Naushad Kermally will face each other in a runoff election June 8. Mansoor and Kermally along with David Gornet were in the running for District 2 City Council member in the May 4 election. Kermally received the most votes, garnering 1,634 supporters, while Mansoor received 1,429 votes, and Gornet received 1,112.

Since no one received 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the two candidates receiving the most votes is activated with early voting beginning May 28.

Stewart Jacobson, who ran unopposed to fill Amy Mitchell’s District 3 council member position, along with Porter and McCutcheon took the oath of office during the special meeting.

“I am very honored to become part of this institution that is the Sugar Land City Council and to be part of the history of the city of Sugar Land,” Jacobson said. “When my council service is done, I want people to be able to say two things: A, he served honorably, and B, he didn’t try to get re-elected, he just did what he thought was right every time there was a vote. Those are the two things that I promise that I’ll do. If there was ever anyone whose pumps it’s difficult to fill, it would be Amy Mitchell’s.”

Mitchell, who served eight years on City Council and could not run for re-election due to term limits, reflected on her time serving.

“I won by one vote—it tells you the power of every single voice in this city,” Mitchell said. “It has been an extraordinary eight years. I served under two mayors. We’ve had the transition of a number of council members. … We have done so much. The landscape of the city has changed since I got on. We have a ball field, which we never had, a performing arts center. We have a water treatment plant. We got 30,000 new citizens with an annexation. We have done a tremendous amount. We survived hurricanes and flooding, and it only made us stronger. It made us prouder of our city.”

During the meeting, Porter remarked the city’s employees are the reason City Council can accomplish all it can to provide the quality of life available to residents in Sugar Land. He went on to thank the members of District 1 along with his friends and family.

“You can count on me fulfilling my duties here,” he said. “I want to thank my campaign team—in particular I want to thank the love of my life and campaign manager, Nancy Porter. … I’d like to put this in perspective for just a moment. One single council member can’t do much without the support of their peers. To the extent that I was able to deliver and the city was able to deliver infrastructure upgrades and other things to District 1, it was because my council members saw the wisdom of the general interest. That’s probably one of the most difficult challenges of a district council member.”

McCutcheon, who was first sworn in two years ago and is entering her second term, also thanked the voters and everyone who helped with her campaign.

“My term started with Hurricane Harvey and the annexation of Greatwood and New Territory, and it didn’t let up,” she said. “Through it all, I have worked hard on behalf of the people of District 4 as well as everyone in the city of Sugar Land. I am grateful and humbled that you re-elected me to continue to serve as your voice on City Council. … I am blessed to serve, and one of the best things about serving is the opportunity to meet people that I otherwise might not have met.”