In addition to running his business, Houston also served as president of Springfield JayCees. This was also when he became involved first-hand, with local politics and elections, while advocating for education-related referenda. One of his colleagues from SJC then decided to run for school board, and asked Houston to run his campaign, which fell narrowly short of victory. Houston subsequently assisted with the campaigns of State SenatorJohn Davidson and State Representative J. David Jones, both of whom were also past presidents of SJC. During the 1975 Springfield municipal elections, Houston began considering a future run for Mayor of Springfield. After serving in a leadership position within the localchamber of commerce, and being dissatisfied in the way city government was operating, especially insofar as economic development, Houston declared his candidacy for mayor, in 1978. After a five-candidate nonpartisan primary, in February 1979, Houston defeated Frank Madonia in the April general election, to be elected mayor. He was re-elected in 1983, finishing first, out of five candidates, in the primary, and then defeating James Dunham in the general municipal election. In 1986, Houston sought and received the Republican nomination for Treasurer of Illinois, but lost the general election to DemocratJerry Cosentino. The following year, Houston was defeated in his mayoral reelection bid.
Post-mayoral career
After leaving the office of mayor, Houston entered the banking business, joining LaSalle National Bank, to serve as a consultant to some municipalities and governmental bodies, throughout the state. He later joined a subsidiary of Marine Bank in Springfield, subsequently becoming CEO of that subsidiary, and continuing with the bank, after it became Bank One, and then J.P. Morgan Chase. In 2005, Houston became the president and CEO of Town and Country Bank, and continues to serve as the chairman emeritus. Houston also presently serves as the chairman of the Board of Trustees at Western Illinois University, and also holds the same position at St. John's Hospital. He was also the last chairman of the board of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and is currently on the Board of Directors of the Downtown Springfield, Inc. , the Quantum Growth Partnership, and the Abraham Lincoln Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Houston ran for mayor of Springfield in 2003. He finished in third place in the primary election and did not qualify for the runoff.
Re-election
In November 2010, Houston entered the race for Mayor of Springfield, the office he previously held. He was one of eight candidates seeking that office. In the February 2011 municipal primary, Houston surprised many observers with a strong first-place finish. He went on to win the April 5th general election by a wide margin, against the other three remaining candidates. "The Dirty Western," a blog maintained by faculty members at Western Illinois University, questioned whether Houston's recent election as Mayor of Springfield creates a conflict of interest with his duties as chairman of the university's Board of Trustees since, as mayor, he will be promoting the interests of competing University of Illinois at Springfield. The University and Houston's legal counsel both found that there was no conflict of interest.
