Colonel William A. Phillips

The Houston mayoral election of 2009 took place on November 3, 2009, to elect the successor to incumbent Mayor Bill White. White was ineligible for re-election, having served three terms. The race is officially nonpartisan. After no candidate received a majority of the votes, the top two candidates – City Controller Annise Parker and former City Attorney Gene Locke – faced each other in a runoff election on December 12, 2009. On November 11, councilman Peter Brown (who finished third in the first round) publicly endorsed Parker in the Mayor's race.^[1] Annise Parker won the run-off.

With the election, Houston became the largest city to elect an openly gay mayor.^[2]^[3]

Candidates

Candidates listed in order of how they appear on the official ballot.^[4]

City Councilman Peter Brown
Amanda Ulman
Luis Ullrich
Dan Cupp
Education Trustee Roy Morales
City Controller Annise Parker
Former City Attorney Gene Locke

Results

General election

2009 Houston mayoral election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Annise Parker	54,193	30.62
	Nonpartisan	Gene Locke	45,954	25.97
	Nonpartisan	Peter Brown	39,904	22.55
	Nonpartisan	Roy Morales	35,925	20.30
	Nonpartisan	Amanda Ulman	992	0.56
Total votes			176,968	100.00

Runoff results

2009 Houston mayoral election runoff
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Annise Parker	81,743	53.60%
	Nonpartisan	Gene Locke	70,770	46.40%
Total votes			152,513	100.00

Endorsements

Peter Brown

State Representative Alma Allen
Former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford
Former Ambassador Edward Djerejian
Former City Councilman Jim Greenwood
Houston Councilman Jarvis Johnson
Former Congressman Nick Lampson
Congressman Solomon Ortiz
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan

Gene Locke

Activist Quanell X
Former Mayor Lee Brown
State Senator Rodney Ellis
Congressman Al Green
Former City Attorney Ben Hall
Former Mayor Bob Lanier

Roy Morales

Mayor of Katy Don Elder
Former Mayoral Candidate TJ Huntley
Former City Councilman Larry McKaskle
Former State Representative Martha Wong

Annise Parker

Former Congressman Chris Bell
City Councilman and Former Mayoral Candidate Peter Brown
Former City Councilman John Castillo
Former City Controller Leonel Castillo
State Representative Ellen Cohen
State Representative Garnet Coleman
State Representative Jessica Farrar
State Representative Scott Hochberg
City Councilwoman Toni Lawrence
City Councilwoman Sue Lovell
City Councilwoman Melissa Noriega
State Representative Rick Noriega
Former Ambassador Arthur Schechter
Former Mayor Kathy Whitmire
Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane

Polling

Pre-election polling

Source	Error margin	Date	Peter Brown (D)	Gene Locke (D)	Roy Morales (R)	Annise Parker (D)
Houston Chronicle and Zogby International^[5]	+/- 4.1%	October 18, 2009	23.8%	13.1%	6.7%	19.0%
11 News/ KUHF Houston Public Radio poll^[6]^[7]	+/- 4.2%	October 27, 2009	24%	14%	5%	16%

Aftermath

Parker was re-elected in 2011 and 2013. Locke served as Harris County interim commissioner in 2016, finishing the term of El Franco Lee, who had died unexpectedly in January of that year.^[8]

References

^ "Peter Brown endorses Annise Parker for mayor". Retrieved November 1, 2009.
^ McKinley Jr., James C. (December 12, 2009). "Houston Is Largest City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor". New York Times.
^ Ortez, David (December 16, 2009). "Why Annise Parker Won And Gene Locke Lost". Houston Press. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
^ "Harris County Official Sample Ballot - 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
^ "Poll: Brown leads Houston Mayor's race". October 17, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
^ "Brown commands big lead in 11 News mayoral poll". Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
^ "Houston Mayor's Race". Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
^ Banks, Gabrielle (January 22, 2016). "Gene Locke named to fill Commissioner Lee's seat". Houston Chronicle.

External links

[1] "Peter Brown endorses Annise Parker for mayor". Retrieved November 1, 2009.

[2] McKinley Jr., James C. (December 12, 2009). "Houston Is Largest City to Elect Openly Gay Mayor". New York Times.

[3] Ortez, David (December 16, 2009). "Why Annise Parker Won And Gene Locke Lost". Houston Press. Retrieved June 3, 2018.

[4] "Harris County Official Sample Ballot - 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved November 2, 2009.

[5] "Poll: Brown leads Houston Mayor's race". October 17, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.

[6] "Brown commands big lead in 11 News mayoral poll". Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.

[7] "Houston Mayor's Race". Archived from the original on September 8, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.

[8] Banks, Gabrielle (January 22, 2016). "Gene Locke named to fill Commissioner Lee's seat". Houston Chronicle.

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