Endorsement: Alexandra Mealer in Congressional District 9
11/2/26 – Republican Alex Mealer is pitted against Democrat Leticia Gutierrez in the newly redrawn Congressional District 9. CD9 includes large parts of the Lake Houston Area. I endorse Alexandra Mealer based on her distinguished background and her continued commitment to improving flood-mitigation infrastructure in our region.
Mealer Focused on Flooding, Infrastructure, Safety and Economy
Mealer is focused on what is important to 9th District: drainage and mobility infrastructure, public safety, and economic stability. She cares enough to have met with me numerous times to study important issues in the Lake Houston area in person.
On the other hand, Gutierrez has not reached out to me at all. Gutierrez has other priorities and is campaigning with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. Hidalgo has voted to prioritize flood mitigation in parts of Harris County with far less flood risk than the Lake Houston Area.
Alex Mealer’s Distinguished Background
No one works harder than Mealer. Her energy seems to have no limits. I believe she will be a work horse in Congress, not a show horse.
Mealer graduated from West Point, then completed advanced training at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) school. As a young lieutenant, the Army selected her ahead of her peers to form a new EOD company for a planned surge in Afghanistan. She prepared her team in half the time usually required by the Army then deployed to a forward operating base in Afghanistan.
While there, Mealer was again selected ahead of her peers to lead the EOD Headquarters Company, consisting of 600+ personnel deployed to 40+ locations throughout Afghanistan. For her 14-month deployment, Mealer was awarded the Combat Action Badge and Bronze Star Medal.
After honorably completing military service, Mealer obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD degree from Harvard Law School. She then went on to leverage her degrees as an oil & gas investment banker in Houston. She specialized in capital markets and merger/acquisition consulting in the oilfield services sector.
In 2021, Mealer campaigned against incumbent Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, but narrowly lost. Mealer secured more than 49% of the vote.
Mealer has worked as a VP for a major private financial institution and served as a representative of 14 cities on the METRO board where she also chaired the public safety committee.
About Congressional District 9
The new Texas Congressional District 9 stretches from Cleveland to the ship channel and Port of Houston. It includes refinery complexes in Pasadena, Deer Park, and Baytown. If CD9 were a country, it would have approximately the 20th largest economy in the world. CD9 also includes large parts of the Lake Houston Area.
The new CD9 includes the East Fork San Jacinto, Luce Bayou, the Luce Bayou Inter-Basin Transfer Project, the Trinity River, the Lake Houston Dam, Colony Ridge, all of Liberty County and major parts of Harris County.
From north to south, water weaves through CD9 into CD2 and back into CD9.
Here is a white paper that Mealer wrote on the subject of a Gulf Coast Resiliency District.Any flood-mitigation solution must recognize the interdependence of these areas for their collective safety. CD9 cannot be operated independently as a fiefdom.
“CD9 is Houston’s economic gateway to the world. It needs world-class infrastructure.” Alex Mealer
Lake Houston Dam and Harris County Flood Projects
The inclusion of the Lake Houston Dam in the new CD9 will put major funding and leadership responsibilities on the new congressional representative. The City just started a major repair project on the dam. Houston has also been studying ways to add more floodgates for several years now.
A strong representative in CD9 could help with those projects. A strong representative could also help Harris County reach well beyond the 2018 flood bond.
Heavy vehicular traffic near refineries places exceptional stress on infrastructure. And in military fashion, Mealer has made infrastructure her mission.
She and I spent a day scouting drainage channels plus dredging and maintenance needs in the Lake Houston Area all the way down to Crosby and Barrett Station.
Despite heavy rain, Mealer smiled through it all and pushed our recon patrol forward for another four hours. That was on a Sunday. On a major holiday weekend.
I don’t know about you. But I feel this area needs that kind of committed leadership. And that’s why I’m endorsing her.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/2/26
3352 Days since Hurricane Harvey
