Houston Mayoral Election Results in Runoff

It's Openly Gay Annise Parker Vs. African American Gene Locke

The Houston Mayoral election results have caused a runoff scheduled for December for December 12 between City Comptroller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke. It was the culmination of a fairly boring race.

The Houston Press characterized the race as being between a Rich White Guy, City Councilman Peter Brown, a Black Guy, Locke, a Lesbian, Parker, and a Hispanic Conservative, Roy Morales. However the race was devoid of the sort of nasty identity politics that one would think that such a match up would cause. The Houston Mayoral election was fought in the main on the issues, with some negative campaigning occurring only at the last minute. The Houston Mayoral election was therefore, for the most part, a pretty boring affair, which was reflected in the sparse turnout.

The candidates touted their positions on such exciting subjects as spending, crime, and city planning to facilitate growth. There was not much to distinguish the candidates, except for style and nuance. This was reflected in the final tally for the Houston Mayoral election result. "Parker led the field with 31 percent of the vote, followed by Locke at 26 percent. Brown came in third at 22 percent, trailed by Morales at 20 percent."

In a way Houston Mayoral election was the sort of race that good government advocates tout as the sort of thing Americans should indulge in. According to the Houston Press, "Yeah, we know it's a sign of Houston's maturity that such things as gayness or blackness aren't even much of an under-the-radar issue. No one's sending out stealth mailings talking about how Locke's daughter is named Attica, or Parker is trying to impose her homosexuality on innocent school kids, or Brown is an out-of-touch rich guy."

Houston has already had an African American mayor, Lee Brown, whose term in office was somewhat undistinguished. The main news to take away from the Houston Mayoral election results is that Houston may well become the largest city in the country to have an openly gay mayor, this during an election in which gay marriage crashed and burned in yet another state, this time Maine.