Tight Race for Houston Mayor, With History on Line

Tight Race for Houston Mayor, With History on Line
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
Copyright by The Associated Press
Published: October 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/us/30houston.html?th&emc=th


HOUSTON — Annise Parker does not talk much about her sexual orientation on the campaign trail. She prefers to focus on issues like drainage and balancing the budget.

Gene Locke, who is running for mayor, is a lawyer who enjoys the backing of business leaders.

But it has escaped no one’s notice here in the nation’s fourth-largest city that Ms. Parker, the current city controller known for her low-key manner, stands an even chance of becoming the first openly gay woman to be elected mayor of a major American metropolis.

“Over the years, it has become less and less of an issue for Houstonians, because I really believe Houstonians judge people based on what we can do,” Ms. Parker said in an interview.

Then she added: “I always told voters the truth. There is an element of, ‘Well, if she will tell us the truth about her sexual orientation she will tell us the truth about anything.’ ”

Ms. Parker, 53, is in a close three-way race that many political professionals here say is one of the most unusual in the city’s history, not because it has been bitterly fought but because it has been relatively tame.

Mayor Bill White, who is stepping down to run for the United States Senate, is so popular that there is little anger at City Hall, and the three Democrats in the race differ so little on the issues that voters have had trouble telling them apart. Every poll has shown the biggest slice of the voting pie is still “undecided.”

“The three candidates are just a degree apart on the issues,” said Nancy Sims, a political analyst. “Without a clearly defined enemy, it’s hard to choose whom to support.”

The other two Democrats in the race are Gene Locke, a lawyer who enjoys the backing of business leaders, and Peter Brown, an architect and at-large councilman who has pumped $2.4 million of his own money into the race.

The Republican candidate, Roy Morales, a county education official, is trailing badly in every poll taken, leaving the question of where Republican voters will go up in the air.

Few pollsters or strategists expect anyone to win a majority on Election Day, so the new mayor is likely to be chosen in a runoff in December between the top two vote-getters.

Mr. Brown, a spry 72-year-old, has emphasized the need for more city planning in Houston, a city notorious for its lack of zoning. “I don’t think we can assume there is an invisible hand that is going to realize the potential of our city,” he said in an interview.

Mr. Locke, meanwhile, has found himself trying to dispel a perception that he is too cozy with developers because he played a major role in the development of the city’s sports stadiums. “My mother will tell you that ‘no’ was the first word that came out of my mouth as a baby,” he said in a recent radio interview. “I know how to say ‘no.’ ”

As the race has entered the last week, the candidates have struggled to find a way to break the deadlock, and the tone has turned more negative. Mr. Locke, who is 61 and started out as a militant black student leader, has accused Mr. Brown of trying to buy votes in the black community after he donated money to black churches and received endorsements from some of them.

Mr. Brown pounced on Ms. Parker, claiming she had missed deadlines for annual audits and put the city’s financial security at risk. That accusation prompted Mayor White, who has not endorsed anyone, to come to Ms. Parker’s defense. (He said delays had been caused by the installation of new software.)

For her part, Ms. Parker has questioned Mr. Brown’s veracity about his achievements and called on him to disclose the business dealings of his wife, Anne Schlumberger, one of the heiresses of an oil-services fortune.

Recent polls suggest Mr. Brown’s heavy spending on advertising has paid off. He led the field, with Ms. Parker running a strong second, and Mr. Locke third.

Despite all the attacks, no one in the race has raised questions about Ms. Parker’s sexuality, not even through proxies. Some strategists say it may become an issue in a runoff if Ms. Parker must battle Mr. Parker or Mr. Locke for conservative voters from the west side of the city.

Ms. Parker began her political career as a gay activist at Rice University in 1979 and in 1986 became the president of the Gay Political Caucus. She won her first City Council seat by challenging an incumbent who had fought the creation of a district in the Montrose neighborhood where gay men and lesbians would have political sway. Throughout her career, she has managed to embrace her roots in the gay community without being labeled a gay candidate. It has been a delicate balancing act that has sometimes required her to disappoint supporters.

In a televised debate on Oct. 25, for instance, she was asked if she would push for a referendum to give benefits to the same-sex partners of city workers. A similar measure was soundly defeated in the past.

Ms. Parker has lived with her partner for 19 years and has two adopted children, so she has a personal stake in the question, but she replied that, while she supported the idea, she had “no current plan to offer that for a referendum.”

“Personally it’s very important,” she said, “but, as mayor of Houston, do I want to engage resources in fighting that battle, or do I want to tackle the budget? Do I want to tackle drainage? Do I want to try to put more police officers on the street? It’s the difference between the personal and what this city needs.”