Houston’s mayoral runoff is today, between City Controller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke. Polls close at 7pm local time, 8pm Eastern. The Houston Chronicle will carry results here. If you’d like to make predictions, go right ahead!
UPDATE: Parker wins, 53-47.
Who are these people? I’ve heard Locke is a homophobe douche but nothing else about the candidates. Is this Dem vs. Dem or Rep vs. Dem?
Probably by about a 51-49 margin.
52% Parker
48% Locke
However, I was also expecting Mary Norwood to beat Kasim Reed in Atlanta, GA.
If Houstonians are smart and care about the their future than Parker will win. However, if enough wingnuts show up Locke will win. I like Annise Parker a lot and hope that people in Texas make the right choice.
55% Parker
45% Locke
I think her base may be a bit more motivated. I hope this election generates good Democratic turnout and motivates the Democrats in general. We need more motivation in our party for the upcoming midterms.
Maybe she will earn a slice of the wingnut vote.
make of Parker’s time in the oil industry. Is this a bad environmental omen or just an inescapable fact of life in Houston?
http://www.towleroad.com/2009/…
There’s a poll showing a 49-36 lead for Parker, publicly released yesterday.
From what I’ve gotten from the race, Parker has a long and well thought of track record while Locke isnt as qualified and his popularity and job approval doesn’t compare to Parker’s.
I’ll give her a 55-45 or so win as well. And as someone stated above, white liberals are more like to show up in a Saturday election than African American voters.
The biggest concern tonight is going to be Controller. The Reps really can win this one. Remember, all offices are OFFICIALLY non-partisan and individuals may serve for up to three 2 year terms
Mayor: Parker rocks. I look forward to her tenure.
Parker (D) – 56%
Locke (D) – 44%
Controller: Cuncilman Green’s campaign has been lacking. He also has run into some tax issues. Councilman Kahn has been on the air, but does not officially live in Houston.
Kahn (R) – 53%
Green (D) – 47%
Council 1: Two nice people going against each other, but Karen Derr is going to work harder, I feel good about her.
Derr (D) – 52%
Costello (I) – 48%
Council 2: Lovell is a two term incumbent and member of the DNC. She’s also an open lesbian like Parker. Expect her to cruise over “some dude” of whom there were several in November, thus creating this run off.
Lovell (D-inc) – 60%
Burks (R) – 40%
Council 5: Jones got in during a special earlier this year and has been very outspoken and controversial. I haven’t been very tuned in, but when she won the special my impression was “Who are you and what makes you qualified?” I hear she has been campaigning in super red Clear Lake this morning, an area I campaigned in for a state house race last year.
Jones (D-inc) – 55%
Christie (R) – 45%
I have no idea on City council sport A and F which are also going int a runoff.
Council 3 is Melissa Noriega (D-Rick’s wife) who was unopposed and Council 4 is C.O. Bradford (D),former Houston Police Chief and 2008 candidate for District Attorney who lost by 5,000 votes, who won this open seat right out in the 2009 general.
the polls close at 7 yet I dont have any numbers
51% Parker
49% Locke
Is GREAT with reporting early votes, they basically come in right after the polls close. Here are the early votes for the races:
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Dec. 12 Runoff (county results)
Harris
Houston
Mayor early voting
Gene Locke 32,623 49.0%
Annise Parker 33,945 51.0%
Controller early voting
Ronald Green 32,980 53.1%
M.J. Khan 29,090 46.9%
City Council At-Large Pos. 1 early voting
Stephen Costello 27,884 49.6%
Karen Derr 28,364 50.4%
City Council At-Large Pos. 2 early voting
Andrew C. Burks Jr. 25,872 46.4%
Sue Lovell 29,891 53.6%
City Council At-Large Pos. 5 early voting
Jack Christie 27,368 46.0%
Jolanda “Jo” Jones (I) 32,116 54.0%
City Council Dist. A
Lane Lewis 0 0%
Brenda Stardig 0 0%
City Council Dist. F
Al Hoang 0 0%
Mike Laster 0 0%
Bellaire
City Council Pos. 3
Corbett Daniel Parker 0 0%
Roseann Rogers 0 0%
City Council Pos. 5
Andrew Friedberg 0 0%
James B. Jameson 0 0%
Houston ISD
Trustee Dist. 1
Anna Eastman 0 0%
Alma Lara 0 0%
Trustee Dist. 9
Adrian Collins 0 0%
Lawrence Marshall (I) 0 0%
50.4% Parker
49.6% Locke
If Locke wins this, I’m writing Texas off as wingnut country. This race shouldn’t even be close for Parker.
I’m worried. Seems like we got a high anti-gay turnout. Parker and Derr are in CLOSE races. Lowell and Green looking steady (a little surprisingly.) Not much can be told yet though. But I’m not feeling great, to be honest.
These numbers are taking forever to come in.
If Annise Parker were to win, Could she take on John Cornyn in 2014?
Parker pulls ahead to 51%
21% in:
http://www.khou.com/z_test/Ele…
which areas have yet to report? It’d be great if this narrow Parker lead was coming with pro-Locke areas having mostly reported already.
34 in. Annise still looking good. Suprised by how poorly Derr is doing.
Cumulative reporting by Harris County here (pdf):
http://www.election.co.harris….
I think it’s safe to say i’m not going to say as many bad things about Texas as i use to. 🙂
Houston
Mayor In: 45%
Gene Locke 54,006 48.3%
Annise Parker 57,875 51.7%
Controller In: 45%
Ronald Green 55,197 53.1%
M.J. Khan 48,762 46.9%
City Council At-Large Pos. 1 In: 45%
Stephen Costello 47,888 51.0%
Karen Derr 46,002 49.0%
City Council At-Large Pos. 2 In: 45%
Andrew C. Burks Jr. 42,455 46.1%
Sue Lovell 49,593 53.9%
City Council At-Large Pos. 5 In: 45%
Jack Christie 46,764 47.1%
Jolanda “Jo” Jones (I) 52,537 52.9%
City Council Dist. A In: 43%
Lane Lewis 4,279 43.7%
Brenda Stardig 5,522 56.3%
City Council Dist. F In: 45%
Al Hoang 3,720 56.4%
Mike Laster 2,879 43.6%
Bellaire
City Council Pos. 3 In: 43%
Corbett Daniel Parker 812 72.2%
Roseann Rogers 312 27.8%
City Council Pos. 5 In: 43%
Andrew Friedberg 628 54.6%
James B. Jameson 523 45.4%
Houston ISD
Trustee Dist. 1 In: 43%
Anna Eastman 3,626 48.9%
Alma Lara 3,784 51.1%
Trustee Dist. 9 In: 43%
Adrian Collins 4,451 48.8%
Lawrence Marshall (I) 4,678 51.2%
From the Locke camp, I think his last name is Devlin expects the race to be very close until the very end when there should be a big swing for Locke. This person is from the Locke camp so he may just be trying to raise hopes for Locke or he may be giving his real opinion.
For Parker but it still could tilt towards Locke. All he has to do is win a bit more than 52% of the remaining votes.
Houston
Mayor In: 54%
Gene Locke 57,939 48.0%
Annise Parker 62,684 52.0%
Controller In: 54%
Ronald Green 59,228 52.8%
M.J. Khan 52,864 47.2%
City Council At-Large Pos. 1 In: 45%
Stephen Costello 47,888 51.0%
Karen Derr 46,002 49.0%
City Council At-Large Pos. 2 In: 45%
Andrew C. Burks Jr. 42,455 46.1%
Sue Lovell 49,593 53.9%
City Council At-Large Pos. 5 In: 45%
Jack Christie 46,764 47.1%
Jolanda “Jo” Jones (I) 52,537 52.9%
City Council Dist. A In: 43%
Lane Lewis 4,279 43.7%
Brenda Stardig 5,522 56.3%
City Council Dist. F In: 45%
Al Hoang 3,720 56.4%
Mike Laster 2,879 43.6%
Bellaire
City Council Pos. 3 In: 43%
Corbett Daniel Parker 812 72.2%
Roseann Rogers 312 27.8%
City Council Pos. 5 In: 43%
Andrew Friedberg 628 54.6%
James B. Jameson 523 45.4%
Houston ISD
Trustee Dist. 1 In: 43%
Anna Eastman 3,626 48.9%
Alma Lara 3,784 51.1%
Trustee Dist. 9 In: 43%
Adrian Collins 4,451 48.8%
Lawrence Marshall (I) 4,678 51.2%
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
… there doesn’t seem to be much of a shift every time it is updated. I think there is a good chance this continues.
On another note… good god these results are coming in slowly. its been 2 and half hours since the polls closed and we are just about 50% of precincts.
Per KHOU:
http://www.khou.com/z_test/Ele…
It’s over.
Parker 52.7
Locke 47.3
http://www.chron.com/news/poli…
Done deal.
Parker 52.7%
Locke 47.3%
88% of the votes are in, looks good.
Only one race was a blowout, all the rest 54/46 or less.
if these were slate candidates it would look like the most polarized city in America.
If anything, it looks like Locke’s anti-gay rhetoric may have backfired (it really was not a smart idea in a heavily Dem electorate).
People who voted early (ie–before the homophobia got ramped up) voted almost exactly evenly. Those who voted on election day went more heavily for Parker (11 points, according to the Houston Chronicle).
And with that, the mayors of America’s 10 biggest cities: 1) Jew 2) Latino 3) White Guy 4) Lesbian 5) Jew 6) Black Dude 7) Latino 8) White Dude* 9) White Dude 10) White Dude
Parker, interestingly, is the only woman (let alone GLBT person) on the list.
*Dallas, where Mayor Tom Leppert condemned homophobic attacks on his gay opponent in 2007 and won handily.
Stephen Costello, the Republican, won the at-large council seat #1.
or whether they even bothered to vote.
Houston just elected a gay woman as mayor.
Atlanta elected a gay, Asian man to the city council.
Georgia elected its first gay person from an ethnic minority (a black woman) to the state house.
Last year, a lesbian was nearly nearly elected (or at least did really well) in South Carolina.
While not an election (or at least one in which the voters are the ones voting), California is going to have a gay woman as State House Speaker (may have the office wrong).
All while even blue states are denying marriage rights to gays (California, Maine, Florida) and even adoption rights (Florida).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34…
Yet she has not even a hint of any accent as far as I can tell. Weird.
Thank you Houston! We needed this win, we really did. What a boost in my spirits and a kick in the ass!
The election for mayor really wasn’t about Anise Parker being gay. Still, that in itself has to mean quite a lot to gay persons.
There were no critical issues, either. Locke did get a lot of establishment support– e.g. from Mayor White and the main police union. And, Parker was painted as anti-police in Locke ads.
Locke also got the clearly implied support of a popular local ‘conservative’ radio talkshow host. The talkshow host is ex-city council and frequently took swipes at Parker as somewhat double dealing, vindictive, … . Could be he’s right. But, it didn’t much matter.
Besides which Locke comes across as a mature, knowlegeable person and a nice guy with a fine family.
But, Parker comes across well, too. Her speech last night is a good example. Plus, unlike Locke, she avoided negative advertising which made her look even better.
Both Locke and Parker are, officially, Dems. So, that wasn’t a factor, either. (In Houston city elections, political party is not usually very important.)
Lots of reasons Locke should have won. Then, there is the reason he lost. Want to guess what that is?
Actually, I knew how Locke would win or loose when I first voted for Parker in the general election. By the runoff it was crystal clear.
In effect Locke, who is black, was running on the coattails of the archetypal ‘vote for me cause I’m black’ politician, President Obama. By now, President Obama is not very popular anywhere. For sure, that includes Houston, Texas.
That, plus the city’s experience with a total buffoon (also black) as mayor is what did in Gene Locke’s bid to become Houston’s second black mayor.
The Anglo-Hispanic majority has just plain had it with just any black person being elected by 90%+ votes of black voters.
According to one local university-type political expert, Locke got the expected 90% or so of black votes. He got less than an third of white votes.
Kind of a shame. I voted for Parker; but, I’ll agree that Locke may well have been a fine mayor.