As I write this, Annise Parker has captured the most votes of any of the four candidates for Mayor of our nation's fourth largest city, Houston TX.
As of 10 PM, Central, with 75% of the precincts reporting:
Annise Parker: 30.3%
Gene Locke: 24.5%
Peter Brown: 22.6%
Roy Morales: 19.7%
For those outside of Houston, this is important because Annise Parker is poised to become the first openly gay Mayor of a major American city.
This recent diary by Scott5js gives some background on the candidates in this race. Ms. Parker has held the job of City Controller for the last six years, and is well-liked. She is openly lesbian, and she and her partner have been together since 1990 and have two children.
What I find interesting is that the top two vote-getters, who will presumably be heading to a run-off election next month, are the two Democrats. This is supposed to be a non-partisan race, but the two trailing candidates have been trying to out-conservative each other of late, trying to get those teabagger votes.
The winner of this race will be replacing the wonderful Bill White, who is running for the US Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison.
I can't imagine better news than Annise Parker at the helm of our city, and Bill White representing Texas in the US Senate!
I thought I'd share this good news! I will update as I can.
UPDATE, 10:30 PM Central: with 92% of precincts reporting, Parker now has 30.5% of the vote.
Consider helping her out with her run-off campaign: CONTRIBUTE HERE.