[…]Since 2022, Odessa had been governed by a group of far-right hard-liners led by Mayor Javier Joven, the owner of a local roofing company who had run for office to help Odessa “publicly repent” for its sins. Political opponents nicknamed the Joven faction “the Squad” and argued that it showed little interest in infrastructure, public safety, or business development, the traditional priorities of municipal government.

The Joven wing of the city council passed an ordinance declaring Odessa a “sanctuary city for the unborn” and banned transgender people from using public restrooms that didn’t match their sex at birth. They fired top city staff, leading to an avalanche of resignations. They packed city commissions with political loyalists and hired a former executive director of the Republican Party of Texas as the city manager. Last year, Odessa lost its bond ratings from Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s after it failed to complete two audits on time—perhaps because the leaders of the finance department had quit.

After two years of chaos, charges of favoritism, and culture wars, Odessa voters had finally had enough. In the November 2024 election, Joven and his allies were trounced by a slate of moderate candidates led by Hendrick, a trial lawyer whose family has lived in Odessa since the 1880s.