WHOOP! Houston's got a new mayor!!!

[tejas]

Not only did we manage to elect the best candidate for the job, but she's got something fairly unique going for her, at least in terms of big city politics

Comments

[or_mabinogi]

Just saw this news on one of NPR's twitter feeds and thought of a couple of my friends here on LJ. The article they linked to did mention something about dealing with an anti-gay campaign from local religious conservatives (is there any other kind?) but even her opponent distanced himself from it.

[tejas]

Yeah, I did see something about a "memo" that was sent out, but it was a minor thing. No one in Houston with any smarts, or political ambition, will *touch* an anti-gay stance with a ten-foot pole. People talk about San Francisco being a gay Mecca, but they need to do a quick head count around here. IIRC, we have the largest openly gay population in the country and it's a very political population, too. Shoot, even one of the right wingers who comments on Houston Chronicle stories said he'd vote for Parker because she's the best person for the job. Served as a city-wide council member until she was term limited out, served as city controller until she was term limited out and I bet she'll be mayor until she's term limited out. Be interesting to see if she goes state or national after that.

[tejas]

Na. Austin's just the Weirdness capitol.

We like it like that. :-)

"Keep Austin Weird" is a not uncommon bumper sticker. :-)

[tesserae_]

Yowch, that looked like it got nuclear level ugly at the end. Daily Kos has been following it, and it looked like her opponent was really throwing a ton of homophobic bullshit at her - the "save America!!!11!!" crap. I was hugely relieved to see she'd won her race (on what sounded like a campaign of old-fashioned competency...)

[tejas]

Yep. I'd managed to miss most of her opponent's crap, but found some of it today. Even the areas that conventional wisdom would have said should have eaten it up voted for her. Nice to see that hate is losing it's power to drive votes any more.

[gundamtsubasa]

I had no idea that Houston was so LGBT friendly. I always had a picture of Houston as full of oil tycoons lighting their cigars with $100 bills and religious nutters, but I think I blame Tom DeLay for a lot of that. I know, I know, Sugarland ain't Houston, kind of like how Plano and Frisco ain't Dallas.

[tejas]

Houston's a chimera. We're very business oriented, yet we're also fairly progressive in terms of the individual. Pretty much, if what you do doesn't negatively impact business, go for it. No one *cares*. Not so much in the "throw you out on the street and you live or die on your own" as "don't do it in the street and scare the horses". :-) Right wing Republicans and libertarians hate us. The Nader crowd isn't too happy, either.

[oneofaradia]

Woohoo! That is indeed excellent and encouraging news. Now if only the rest of the country can learn from you example.

[tejas]

We can hope. :-)

[tejas]

We've got a bunch of terrific local folks. Our out-going mayor, Bill White, is running for Governor.

[tejas]

That's because Texas is a "Red" State.

All of whose urban areas went for Obama.

*headdesk*