Locke's Lawyerly Response

It probably took Gene Locke about two seconds to come up with his non-response to being caught with his pants down with Steven Hotze and the right wing ministers who are planning an organized anti-gay hate campaign in the mayoral race. After all, he makes $640/hour off the taxpayers, representing Metro, the Port, and the Sports Authority. I would expect for that kind of hourly rate, he is very skilled at giving the answer that satisfies the letter of the law, but doesn't go any further. And, that's what we got. Here's the timeline:

1. It was rumored he was sleeping with Hotze.

2. He got fourth place in most of the Republican precincts on Nov. 3rd.

3. Rumors surfaced again that he was sleeping with Hotze in order to be a part of a mailer (and possibly TV, robocalls and radio) that would attack his opponent for being gay. The anti-gay campaign would target conservative voters and would have a "family values" message. I heard rumors that Hotze would be spending $250,000 to $500,000 on this effort and that Locke wanted to be a part of it so that he could revive the pincer strategy, getting blacks and conservative whites to vote for him around the gay lifestyle issue.

4. The Houston Chronicle confirmed that he met with and sought the endorsement of Hotze, as well as appeared at the Pastors Council annual gala.

5. Having been caught actually in bed with hate mongers, the affirmative action law making, gay friendly, civil rights activist Locke had this to say:

As I have previously stated, I reject any association with the style of campaigning that was the subject of an article in the Houston Chronicle today. We have serious issues to deal with in our city that requires us to work together as one Houston and I trust that Houstonians will choose a new mayor based on the issues that effect our lives every day and not to be swayed by divisive rhetoric.

Does Locke confirm or deny he's going to be a part of the anti-gay campaign? No.

Does Locke specifically disavow the gay-hating rhetoric of Hotze and the Pastors Council? No.

Does Locke give a reason why he was meeting with Hotze and asking for his endorsement? No.

Does Locke assure voters if he ends up as part of the "family values" campaign, he will strongly condemn it? No.

Are we buying what Locke is selling with this lawyerly response? No.

As Kuff rightly notes, this is only one baby step above his spokesperson's namby-pamby response to the Chronicle:

Locke spokeswoman Kim Devlin said he has met with “thousands of people” and promised from the outset of his campaign to be “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.”

When that laughable "Mayor for all Houstonians" lawyerly response didn't work, what was a lawyer to do, but throw out another one.

Locke's responses dodge the facts. The Chronicle has strongly condemned the rhetoric of hate. Kuff and John have more. Question is, does Locke have more? I'm waiting for some real answers.

Gene Locke's Gay Friendly Agenda

Imagine my shock and surprise to read the Houston Chronicle's article on organized anti-gay efforts aimed at  keeping Annise Parker from getting elected and to see this (everything in red from here on out are things I've pulled from newspapers, press releases, blogs, etc. If it's in black, they are my words, if in red, they are someone else's):

Locke has also met with and sought the endorsement of Dr. Steven Hotze, a longtime local kingmaker in conservative politics and author of the Straight Slate in 1985, a coterie of eight City Council candidates he recruited who ran on an anti-gay platform.

There must be a mistake because Locke had this to say on September 17th about negative attacks, and we all know Hotze is all about ugly negative attacks:

 "focus on the issues and refrain from engaging in third-party personal attacks in this campaign."

And when a bogus anti-gay endorsement email went out with Gene Locke on the slate, he had this to say: 


STATEMENT BY GENE LOCKE REGARDING CHRISTIANS FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT

September 20, 2009 - “I vehemently reject this so-called ‘endorsement’ from a group calling itself ‘Christians for Better Government.’  Furthermore, as a church-going Christian, I reject any association with this bogus and divisive style of campaigning.  I find the message contained in their press release to be reprehensible, and the people of Houston do, too.  I trust Houstonians to choose a new mayor based on the issues and the candidates, and not to be swayed by this kind of ugly rhetoric."

And, after the KHOU televised debate, Locke staffer Grace Rodriguez posted this on her blog, making it crystal clear that there is no better friend to gays than Gene Locke, and that includes Annise Parker: 

This issue is really important to me, because I have family and friends in the LGBT community who are still treated as second-class citizens when it comes to equal civil rights.


There is a New York Times article going around on Twitter that Annise Parker may make history as “the first openly gay woman to be elected mayor of a major American metropolis.” In it, however, Parker says “I always told voters the truth…” then goes on to state she has “no current plan to offer [same-sex benefits] for a referendum.”


I’m shocked that Annise Parker, the “openly gay” candidate, does NOT support same-sex benefits. The NYTimes article reports:

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.”

It seems, then, what her base - Houston’s vibrant GLBT community and its supporters - needs is NOT equal rights.

The interesting thing is that Gene Locke, who is also running for mayor of Houston (and one of my clients), DOES support equal rights. On Gene Locke’s Facebook profile, I found the following comment thread:

Jody Miller: Where do you stand on Houston City Charter, roman numeral II, section 22 Denial of Benefits?

Matt Burrus: Jody, I can respond to your question on behalf of Gene. Gene believes that all people should be treated fairly and equally. He wrote the City’s first non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation when he was City Attorney in the late 1990s. He also spearheaded the efforts to bring domestic partner benefits to his law firm, as a member of its diversity committee. He most recently stated during the KHOU debate that he would support a referendum to provide same-sex benefits to City employees. He was the only candidate to say they would support the referendum. Gene believes that the City needs to recruit the best employees possible, regardless of sexual orientation, race, nationality, religion, etc., and he would look to be competitive with a majority of Fortune 500 companies, Dallas, Austin, El Paso, and other cities across the country that already offer domestic partner benefits.

When I made the same statement on Twitter, Kris Banks, President of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, responded:

“She understands the political fight b/c she’s been involved in it for decades. Not going to make empty promises. Ballot initiatives are not our forte. We lost CA and Maine looks bleak. Has to be done right. She gets that. I think everyone should support same-sex benefits, but that’s different than doing what it takes to win initiative fight. She said there wasn’t a plan right now. @AnniseParker doesn’t just talk, she gets things done. Ballot initiatives are overwhelmingly tough for our community, @AnniseParker knows that b/c she’s fought that fight.”

Yet, if Annise has really fought this fight before, shouldn’t she have a plan to continue fighting it? She may not make empty promises, but if she hasn’t promised to continue fighting for equal rights for the GLBT community, her commitment to Houston’s diverse community seems empty itself.

In any case, if she doesn’t have a plan, Gene DOES. Maybe Annise should ask Gene to help her draft her plan? After all, Gene Locke “wrote the City’s first non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation” when he was Houston City Attorney under former Mayor Bob Lanier.

I support equal rights for ALL of Houston. If you do, too, please VOTE FOR GENE LOCKE FOR MAYOR ON NOVEMBER 3RD!

*UPDATE: Jody Miller followed up his conversation with Matt Burrus with this comment:

“After much research and countless conversations with all four major candidates campaigns running for Mayor of Houston, I have decided to back Gene Locke. He is the most genuine of all of the candidates and the only one wanting to rewrite current descrimination laws in Houston and support a referendum to change the city charter to include Domestic Partnership benefits for city workers. This is a huge step in the right direction friends. Join me in voting for Gene Locke on Nov. 3rd!”

So, bottom line, Locke's senior advisor Kim Devlin needs to retract her extremely lame "response" to Locke being accused of sleeping with Steven Hotze. I suggest she replace it with:


"Gene Locke is 100% gay friendly. You can find proof in the video from the KHOU debate where he was the only one who promised a referendum on same sex partner benefits. He signed the HGLBT statement saying he is 100% gay friendly and sought their endorsement. He's on record on our own website being against the gay-hating people behind the Christian for Better Government slate. He wrote the City's first non-descrimination law against gay people. No one is more friendly to gays than Gene Locke."

I mean seriously. No way Gene Locke has sold his soul, right? So, I'm sure he will be up and at 'em Saturday morning to go over to the west side to tell the Republican voters all of these truths about his gay friendly agenda. 

UPDATE: More from Kuff and John. Read what Matt Burrus has to say in the comments. I'm waiting for Locke to speak out, as well, so I can find out why someone who is on record as being gay friendly was seeking the endorsement of the gay hater Steven Hotze. Already, we have Locke's campaign response. As it stands, Devlin speaks for Locke and she is excusing his appearance at the gala for the pastors who are behind the anti-gay effort, as well as his seeking Hotze's endorsement, with a statement about how Locke's behavior is acceptable because he wants to be the mayor of all of Houstonians. And, inexplicably, she tears down Parker's character. I think Locke needs to quit letting Devlin speak for him. Here is what she told the Chronicle:

Locke spokeswoman Kim Devlin said he has met with “thousands of people” and promised from the outset of his campaign to be “mayor for every Houstonian … no matter their political party or their ideology.”

“Annise Parker is letting Houstonians in on her true character by leveling these highly incendiary, baseless and ridiculous attacks,” said Devlin.

Texas Conservative Review: Parker is a Fiscal Conservative

I blogged recently about the Texas Conservative Review (TCR) and noted that they graded Annise Parker a B. On page 3 of their November Voter Guide, they had this to say about Parker:

TCR was pleasantly surprised that Annise Parker scored near the top. Clearly her answers indicate she is a fiscal conservative. She is a former executive at Mosbacher Energy and has been involved in City government for 12 years. She is a skeptic when it comes to more sports stadiums at City expense and is running on her ability to control spending and run an efficient City Hall.

TCR has a post-election update (the emphasis in red is mine):

Conservatives Impact City of Houston Elections

As conservatives, we should be involved in non-partisan elections. This year in the Houston City Elections, conservatives were the main battleground and were instrumental in victories and runoff candidates success. TCR, as a public service, sent out a questionnaire of ten questions related to fiscal issues and public safety. Based on the results, TCR endorsed or editorialized about the choices and mailed and emailed the results. Eight of the nine candidates endorsed by TCR were victorious, four won outright (Clutterbuck, Bradford, Sullivan, and Pennington) and four are in runoffs (Khan, Stardig, Christie, and Costello) and the mayoral candidates with top grades, Morales and Parker, got a combined 51.29% of the vote. All of which proves that our votes matter and candidates, regardless of party in a non-partisan election, want our votes. This creates an opportunity to encourage fiscal conservatism and advance our common sense agenda. There is a runoff coming on December 12th and yes, you should vote for the most fiscally conservative candidates running and there are differences. TCR in a future mailing and email edition will make recommendations and comments on those choices.

They graded Locke a D in their Voter Guide. Let's stay tuned to what they put in their future mailing. I've already made it clear why I think Annise Parker is the fiscally conservative choice. She's got a track record of saving the City millions of dollars. She is focused on basic city services in tough economic times - police and infrastructure - while her opponent, Gene Locke is promising stadiums and museums. He's got conflicts of interest from his $640/hour government lobbyist/attorney work representing Metro, the Sports Authority and the Port that caused cityethics.org to ask if the responsible thing would be for him to not run at all, as well as comment that good government advocates are right to hound him.

I think there's a reason Parker performed well in Republican precincts and that's because of her proven, common sense leadership, and because city voters, who by their very nature are good government advocates, questioned Locke's agenda. In round 2, there are more of these voters who are up for grabs, and the questions are will they vote - I believe they will - and who will they decide is the fiscally conservative choice.

Hotze on the Move: Targets Texas Democratic House Members

A couple of reasons I'm not terribly impressed by the e-blast below from Conservative Republicans of Texas (CRT):

1. Recruit Republicans to run for the Texas House by email? Really?

2. CRT endorsed a slate in the Nov. 3rd City of Houston elections, and didn't exactly get results. Six out of nine lost out right: Roy Morales, Amy Peck, Joe Chow, Mills Worsham, Griff Griffin, Curtis Garmon and Pam Holm. You may be asking yourself, "who are some of these people?" Well, all Conservative Republican of Texas-Hotze backed candidates have these stands on issues in common:

ant-public education

anti-affirmative action

anti-choice

anti-gays

among other things, under the guise of "family values" which is anything but. Basically, it's your haters who say things like you read below, about "liberals who seek to destroy our identity." It's the tea party folks before they knew they were tea partiers. For a taste of the kind of "support that stands ready to assist you" read about one of Hotze's mail ballot programs from the past. 


I'm sure this email campaign will drive a lot of crazies out of the woodwork to run against Chris Turner, Carol Kent, Pete Gallego, and other Democratic Texas House members. I think the economic and moral starvation Steven Hotze speaks of is his own, and that it's time to close the door on the tired family values agenda. Certainly the email below does not speak to solutions: instead, it invokes hatred and fear. 

Contact: Chris Elam Executive Director, CRT 713-234-0499 (cell) 281-404-4695 (office)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 12, 2009

Conservative Republicans of Texas PAC Launches Statewide Candidate Recruiting Email Campaign Across 11 State House Districts

Email blast seeks to identify strong Republican challengers to Democrat incumbents

(HOUSTON, TEXAS) - Conservative Republicans of Texas (CRT) PAC has begun an email campaign to tens of thousands of Republican primary voters in 11 State House districts, as part of a statewide initiative to recruit a full slate of conservative GOP challengers in the 2010 Elections. The targeted districts are widely considered by political observers as Republican-leaning areas, and potential pickups for the GOP majority in 2010.

In the email, CRT President Steven F. Hotze, MD, promised Republican voters that “This email serves not only as our own electronic ‘Help Wanted’ sign, but also as a demonstration of the support that stands ready to assist you.”

Hotze continued, “This email is a call to arms - a plea to Texas patriots to step forward and be counted among those who will defend Texas from the liberals who seek to destroy our liberty. The 2010 elections serve as a referendum on the future of our State and our Country. Will we continue down the road of socialism, universal health care, and the leadership of Obama / Pelosi / Reid? Or will conservatives finally stand united and declare ‘Enough!’ in the face of economic and moral starvation?”

Stating the broad support of other statewide organizations in launching the campaign, Hotze said, “Groups such as Texas Eagle Forum, Heritage Alliance, Vision America, the Republican Party of Texas, and many others too numerous to list here, agree that Texas needs more conservative leaders in Austin. They have urged me to use CRT's powerful email capabilities to seek out our newest candidates and potential leaders. We strongly believe that the greatest potential of Texas comes not from our networks of power brokers in Austin and other metropolitan areas, but from you - the citizens of this great State.”

Given the immediacy of the short campaign season, CRT has created a “Candidate Recruitment” webpage at www.ConservativeRepublicansofTexas.com/recruit - where potential Republican candidates can log on to request more information and express their interest in running for office. Potential candidates are also encouraged to contact CRT by phone by calling 281-404-4695.

Target Districts include: 1- Stephen Frost, 3 - Mark Homer, 21 - Allan Ritter, 35 - Yvonne Gonzales Toureilles, 45 - Patrick Rose, 74 - Pete Gallego, 85 - Joe Heflin, 96 - Chris Turner, 102 - Carol Kent, 106 - Kirk England, 107 - Allen Vaught.

UPDATE: Bay Area Houston follows the yellow brick road and has more about Hotze.  


UPDATE 2: Someone had sent me the CRT email, and it's reported on Quorum Report. Just wanted to give you that link, although I can't seem to link to the original story. Here you go. What QR also has, are the individual emails to each targeted House District. 

Parker's Field Campaign: By the Numbers

I personally did some phone banking and blockwalking with the Parker campaign's field program and I was very impressed with the targeting and the response. Some of our phonebanking nights were huge, and there were a ton of people at HQ the weekend before E-Day, so I'm not surprised by these numbers from a campaign press release today. Not surprised, but impressed, nevertheless!

In just the last 90 days, our volunteers have made more than 179,000 phone calls and knocked on over 50,000 doors. On just the weekend before the election, our field operation knocked on 14,000 doors! Now that’s how to win a campaign when you are outspent more than two to one.

I spoke with someone associated with the Parker campaign's Latino outreach effort yesterday, and got confirmation that there was a large door to door voter contact program in the East End, which apparently worked very well, since the results in those precincts were so good. For those complaining that the mayoral campaigns did not reach out to Latinos, I know one mayoral campaign that took the candidate's message straight to the voters' doors - in Spanish.

The internal memo from the Parker campaign yesterday revealed that their field campaign increased turnout 10% in targeted precincts. That's pretty impressive data on ROI on field.

I'll be blockwalking and phonebanking for Annise for the runoff. Last time I walked, they handed me Annise's precinct, which was fun! If you want to join in on all the volunteer goodness, sign up online here.

Check out Greg's latest map which shows 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes in all of the precincts. Numbers don't lie - Annise finished strong in Round 1. My prediction is that her motivated volunteers will show up big again in Round 2, possibly even surpassing these outstanding field numbers.

Peter Brown Urges Houstonians to Vote for Annise Parker

I was very impressed with Peter Brown's speech endorsing Annise Parker for mayor. He was sincere, passionate and enthusiastic. He drew a sharp contrast between Parker and Gene Locke, saying we cannot be sure what Locke's priorities are or who will advise him. He described Parker as the one candidate who cares about the things he has fought for, including efficient, transparent government and quality of life issues. Several times he got very direct in his urging for all Houstonians to vote for Parker.

Parker repeated some of his themes when it was her turn to speak. She thanked him, his family and supporters for being so gracious and generous. She repeated one of the best things I've heard her say on the campaign trail, "I will always tell you the truth." She reiterated that her administration will be transparent and said, "when I am Mayor, lobbyists and special interests will not run City Hall!" She and Peter were very warm with each other, and I got the impression they were both having fun. His supporters nodded their heads in agreement with everything Parker was saying. I think bloggers came to an agreement that we counted five fist pumps by Brown!

The most effective thing was that Brown and Parker both openly criticized Locke and his lobbyist/special interest ties and warned against the style of government that would result from the promises he's made to them vs. Parker's commitment to efficiency, transparency and focusing on basic city services.

A special thank you to Team Locke for the delicious snacks. How kind!

I would have liveblogged this, but I forgot that City Hall is the one place you want to be if terrorists ever figure out how to attack you through your AT&T phone, because there is a 100% certainty that a "No Service" message will save your life.

UPDATE: Stace was there, and he has more, including some great photos!

Parker Campaign Releases Internal Memo on State of the Race

Click on images to make them larger:

Hispanic Leadership Council Event for Annise Parker

Mayor's Race: 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th in Top 50 Precincts

I've been taking a look at the precinct level data in the Nov. 3rd mayoral election in lots of different ways. This look is at the top 50 precincts for number of votes cast (check out how high the turnout was in these top 50 - most are well above the 19% average turnout for all precincts).

I'm thinking about what a Peter Brown endorsement means to the candidate he endorses today. He got approximately 40,000 votes, with a little over 10,000 of them coming from these 50 (out of the 750 or so of total precincts in the City of Houston). Where do these 10,000 voters go in the runoff?

In this precinct set:
Parker came in first in 29 precincts, second in 16 and 5 in third. She did not come in last in any.
Morales came in first in 19 precincts, second in 12 and 13 in third.
Brown came in first in one precinct, second in 21 and 28 in third.
Locke came in first in one precinct, second in zero, 4 in third, and 45th in fourth.

Morales coming in first, second and third in so many of these tells you that many of these top performing precincts are in Republican areas. A big question is how Republicans vote in Round 2. I believe they'll turnout, because they love a Saturday runoff in December (not kidding), and they want to cast their vote for a Republican in the Controller, At-Large 1 and At-Large 5 races. Will a bunch of them skip the mayor's race? I doubt it.

PCT	TURNOUT	Brown	Morales	Parker	Locke
0265	38.14%	318	443	348	201
0258	39.55%	236	445	376	187
0234	34.77%	268	402	358	225
0439	37.49%	251	393	367	137
0129	23.27%	243	345	394	176
0407	30.12%	286	343	299	110
0309	42.73%	239	391	292	113
0204	30.13%	250	224	410	123
0303	32.71%	245	259	296	214
0461	29.64%	273	291	342	90
0620	16.95%	272	208	262	191
0281	38.63%	206	159	477	147
0270	28.17%	241	265	377	71
0448	28.32%	185	292	383	90
0286	17.85%	167	42	139	589
0469	26.62%	237	424	220	69
0385	44.28%	216	293	279	119
0760	24.27%	204	457	208	49
0262	22.89%	214	300	295	91
0217	36.18%	223	158	384	159
0040	35.20%	239	83	529	75
0222	39.10%	195	86	520	111
0057	31.18%	156	127	561	64
0483	22.07%	217	308	265	91
0095	29.38%	198	349	274	61
0663	26.69%	166	210	415	82
0444	27.84%	227	264	276	72
0148	35.17%	176	122	484	75
0070	29.23%	188	149	388	126
0054	25.89%	157	197	384	107
0718	21.69%	246	272	233	87
0200	27.60%	170	115	483	78
0118	41.37%	164	312	271	83
0199	27.87%	225	420	144	48
0135	32.34%	200	157	337	131
0563	27.90%	224	340	194	59
0435	27.99%	170	248	305	92
0038	31.76%	138	60	529	79
0287	31.10%	153	214	362	75
0274	29.02%	170	186	248	160
0130	35.48%	221	240	241	91
0324	35.31%	187	271	264	71
0233	20.86%	161	140	384	109
0612	24.08%	169	348	196	52
0053	29.50%	143	106	456	72
0034	30.47%	114	49	578	33
0499	34.00%	182	235	259	95
0304	34.49%	160	170	355	74
0039	31.00%	114	51	539	62
0437	39.44%	135	359	182	67

Peter Brown to Endorse in the Mayor's Race

MEDIA ADVISORY: PETER BROWN ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT IN MAYORAL RUNOFF

Peter Brown will host a press conference, joined by family, friends and supporters, announcing his endorsement in the mayoral runoff.  

WHO: Houston City Council Member and former Candidate for Mayor Peter Brown
WHAT: Peter Brown makes an official endorsement in the mayoral runoff
WHEN: Tuesday, November 10^th at 1:30 PM
WHERE: Steps of City Hall, 901 Bagby St., facing the reflection pool

CONTACT:

Lucinda Guinn, Campaign Manager

Telephone: 713-528-0049

www.peterbrownformayor.com

(You'll find me there liveblogging! I am threatening to do a blogger hayride to City Hall. By the way, at 1 PM MJ Khan is having a press conference at the reflection pool - my guess is Pam Holm is endorsing him for Controller.)

Runoff Early Voting Locations, Dates, Times

Dates and Times for Early Voting (City of Houston, HISD):

Monday, Nov. 30: 8 AM to 5 PM

Tuesday, Dec. 1: 8 AM to 5 PM

Wednesday, Dec. 2: 8 AM to 5 PM

Thursday, Dec. 3: 8 AM to 5 PM

Friday, Dec. 4: 8 AM to 5 PM

Saturday, Dec. 5: 7 AM to 7 PM

Sunday, Dec. 6: 1 PM to 6 PM

Monday, Dec. 7: 7 AM to 7 PM

Tuesday, Dec. 8: 7 AM to 7 PM

Locations:

Humble ISD Instructional Support Center, 4810 Magnolia Cove, Kingwood

Freeman Branch Library, 16616 Diana Ln., Clear Lake

The Power Center, 12401 South Post Oak

Courtyard by Marriott, 12401 Katy Freeway

Lac Hong Square, 6628 Wilcrest Dr., Suite A

Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, 1475 W. Gray

Trini Mendenhall Sosa Community Center, 1414 Wirt Rd.

Bayland Park Community Center, 6400 Bissonnet

Tracy Gee Community Center, 3599 Westcenter Dr. 

Acres Home Multi-Service Center, 6719 Montgomery

Hardy Senior Center, 11901 West Hardy Rd.

Northeast Multi-Service Center, 9720 Spalding

Julia C. Hester House, 2020 Solo St.

HCCS Southeast College, Learning Hub, 6815 Rustic St.

Fiesta Mart, Inc. 8130 Kirby Dr. 

Sunnyside Multi-Service Center, 4605 Wilmington

Palm Center, 5300 Griggs Rd. 

Moody Park Community Center, 3725 Fulton

Ripley House, 4410 Navigation Blvd.

Henington-Alief Regional Library, 7979 Kirkwood

Harris County Admin Bldg, 1001 Preston, 1st Floor

Want to Know More About the Mayoral Runoff Candidates?

I guess I'm a little surprised that anyone would think that Gene Locke and Annise Parker should drop everything once a week and answer social media questions. If you think it's a great idea - or a silly one - let us know in the comments. Below are some resources to get acquainted with the candidates, if you haven't been paying attention and you have a burning desire to figure out who to vote for in the runoff. These are links to places where you can hear Parker and Locke - in their own words:

Kuff's interview with Gene Locke where his first remark is "I have two personalities"and then he goes on to clarify that one of those personalities is enjoying the trappings of being a lawyer (and a $640/hour one).

Kuff's interview with Parker.

Here's ABC13's mayoral debate in full:

KUHF had conversations with the candidates. Listen to Parker here and Locke here.

Ch. 2 held a mayoral debate in partnership with the League of Women Voters and you can watch that at this link.

Here's the Chronicle's live chat with Annise Parker and here is the live chat with Gene Locke. Readers chatted with the candidates in real time.

And, you can watch the Fox 26 mayoral debate here:

(I can't find a link to the Ch. 11 debate - if you have it, please leave it in the comments.)

As far as social media goes, @AnniseParker on Twitter makes it clear that it's actually her tweeting when the tweet ends in "-A". She is also featured talking to voters on Twitter via short twit vids (here's an example).

My guess is that voter interest in the runoff is very low right now - and will continue to be that way - except for those who are very passionate about their particular candidate. I think Republicans are fairly ho-hum right now (but I do believe they will lurch into action and vote, because nothing stir R's into action more than a Saturday runoff election in December - I'm actually not kidding). I believe those who didn't vote the first time couldn't care less. I think those few who voted in Round 1 were very informed.

But, anyway, here you go - this is your resource post if you are just now starting to pay attention. My understanding is that there will be four televised debates for the runoff - Ch. 2, 11, 13 and 26. That may be just supposition on the part of the person who told me that, so stay tuned.

Again, early voting begins in three weeks on November 30th, and Election Day is December 12th.

Gene Locke and the Latino Vote

We have plenty of evidence from the precinct level data, that Locke's brown-black coalition did not materialize, with only the black portion of the coalition showing up for him at the polls. I did a quick analysis of the total votes in some East End precincts:

Precinct	Brown	Morales	Parker	Locke
9	37	31	66	50
10	57	65	39	27
11	44	36	61	32
19	40	21	82	48
24	12	0	18	60
26	56	48	118	50
27	98	83	176	116
62	95	64	44	26
64	62	48	40	38
65	66	79	66	33
66	13	17	23	46
69	22	33	9
72	69	66	90	67
79	124	71	91	21
154	40	38	50	53
207	55	59	145	71
218	113	88	182	64
226	63	41	56	24
530	16	38	35	16
560	52	16	32	12
Totals	1134	926	1423	854
%	25.56%	20.87%	32.07%	19.25%

In this East End precinct set, Parker took the most votes with Locke taking the least - 13 points behind.

I found this posting called "Latinos for Locke" on Mary Benton's On the Beat blog curious, especially this:

"We haven't seen his opponent in our neighborhood," said one of the speakers.

Three things:
1. The restaurant, El Jardin, where "dozens of people packed into," (looks like 24 at best, to me) is in precinct 65 where the result was:

Morales: 31%
Parker: 26%
Brown: 26%
Locke: 13%

2. Also, I'm curious where folks think SEIU and HOPE (Annise Parker supporters) blockwalked and talked to Latino voters. I'll take a wild guess: East End, maybe?

3. I saw Annise Parker with my own eyes at a party in the East End held by Rick Noriega.

Marc Campos has more (where he shows that Parker probably got the greatest share of the Latino vote  city-wide and Locke the least), as does Stace here and here (where he makes a good point that Morales' Latino vote share may have been Republican Latinos, not Latinos voting according to last name.)

Next up: Locke's African American-Republican pincer strategy also didn't work. What's left for Locke to do in the runoff? Turn out the African American vote in even larger numbers and . . . and what?

That's the real question: And, what? Early voting begins three weeks from today on November 30th, so Locke is going to have to implement the "and what" strategy very quickly. Got any ideas of how Locke can win? Leave them in the comments!