Their  election day turnout has been described as disappointing by some political observers,  but Houston Mayoral candidate Gene Locke hopes he can pick up more support in the Latino community to  help him win the runoff election against Annise Parker.

On Friday, dozens of people packed into El Jardin Restaurant in Houston’s east end to attend a Latinos for Locke luncheon.

The event felt like a political campaign rally, with  Hispanic community and business leaders like Gracie Saenz and Ben Mendez , along with elected officials like State Rep. Carol Alvarado and Precinct 6 Constable Victor Trevino  making speeches in support of  Locke.

Several times the crowd interrupted into chants of  “Si Se Puede”  and  ”We want Gene,” while the speakers talked about Locke and his “long history of  serving the community.”

“We haven’t seen his opponent in our neighborhood,” said one of the speakers.

“Join me in working hard to elect Gene Locke as our next Mayor,” said another.

Meanwhile, political consultant Marc Campos told 2 On The Beat, “I think looking at the numbers, the Latino vote is up for grabs (in the runoff).  With a close race the Latino vote could make a difference,”

Annise Parker Sets Personal Online Fundraising Record

Houston, TX – Annise Parker set a personal online fundraising record Wednesday as supporters donated over $79,170 in online contributions from 272 donors in response to a single email sent the day after she ran first in Houston’s mayoral election.
 
Parker also picked up more than 600 supporters on Facebook the day after the election, for a total of 8,174 supporters on Facebook alone – more than all her opponents in the mayor’s race combined.

“Annise Parker’s 4,259 donors, 1,486 volunteers and more than 17,000 online supporters are energized by her first place finish,” said Adam Harris, Parker’s campaign manager. “Their enthusiasm and hard work prevailed despite massive spending by her opponents.”

“Our grassroots campaign is exploding with new supporters, new volunteers and new donors,” said Harris. “The momentum in this race is with Annise Parker.”
 
“I am so grateful to the thousands of people who supported me and voted for me,” said Parker.  “They stood together with me and I will remember their dedication for the rest of my life.  And to my new supporters I want to say ‘Thank you and welcome aboard!’”
 

With the runoff election gearing up, Houston Mayoral candidate Gene Locke spent part of  Thursday talking with members of the Houston Police Officers Union.

HPOU endorsed Locke for Mayor, and several women who lost their officer/husbands in the line of   duty are also lending their support to his campaign.

On Thursday, Locke listened to Stephanie Abernethy, the widow of  slain officer Timothy Abernethy. 

You can learn more about his career and service:  http://www.odmp.org/officer/19692-police-officer-timothy-scott-abernethy

Locke also spoke with Joslyn Johnson, the widow of  slain officer Rodney Johnson:  http://www.odmp.org/officer/18510-officer-rodney-joseph-johnson

They talked about the events leading up to their husbands’ deaths, and whether HPD  could do anything  in the future to prevent officers from being killed in the line of duty, especially when they are working without backup.

2 On The Beat will try to get  more information about this meeting and post it later.

As she heads into a runoff  with Gene Locke,  Annise  Parker is getting a lot of   help  from the LGBT community in Houston and across the country. 

In urgent messages being emailed across the nation,  The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community is urging people to donate and vote for  Parker so they can be a “part of  making national strides in equality across the United States,” according to the message.

If   elected,  Parker would become Houston’s first openly gay mayor, and the LGBT community wants to make history in this election.

Both Locke and Parker have very little time to campaign, but need a lot of  money to go back up on TV and pay for a field operation  during the runoff ,  so this a huge advantage for Parker.

Both campaigns have passionate supporters and a base of  voters who will return to the polls on Saturday, December 12th.

But,   when it comes to the chance at  making history,  Parker has a huge advantage with the  LGBT  community contributing money and manpower.

This is the text of  the email:

This email might be a bit long, but it’s incredibly important.

WE DID IT! We came in FIRST PLACE last night!  Annise said to us, “Thank you
from the bottom of my heart for your contributions, support, encouragement
and friendship. I will never forget it.”

And now, I’m emailing you with important information about the future of the
LGBT community in Houston.  The email also contains an invitation for you to
be a part of making national strides in equality across the United States!

NOW is a critical time.  I am asking you to join me in seeing this campaign
through to the end.  Here is a UNIQUE chance for us to unite and show that
we have a powerful LGBT voice in Houston.  We can put our names together.
When do we ever see this???  Usually it’s Washington DC and other more
progressive states that get to do this type of activity.  You’ve probably
seen that Annise is all over national press and we her friends and
supporters in Houston now have a chance to show that we are her base in this
race.

The run-off won’t be cheap.  Annise raised over $2 million for the general
election over a period of 9 months.  Now she must raise the same amount in
less than 5 weeks.  She needs our help now–and unlike the past 9 months,
you won’t see multiple fundraisers.

I would LOVE for you to join me on the Host Committee for THE event our
community will put on for Annise in the run-off.  The theme of which will be
TAKE IT TO THE MAX!

At the beginning of the campaign, many of us chose to give a small amount to
several different events, anticipating the long haul.  For the run-off it
will be different.  There isn’t the time for many events and the campaign
needs the funds ‘front-loaded’.  In which case, we are hosting an event on
Wednesday November 11th at Jay Jones’ home for our community to PERSONALLY
MAX OUT!  We all max out at different levels.  Some at $50, some at $500,
some at $5,000. Whatever our personal maxing out is, we need to give at that
level immediately.

The following people have already committed and given their name to the
campaign:

David Arpin and Alex Martinez
Bill Brooker
Robin Brown
Bob Burress and Tom Seymour
Tony Carroll and Bruce Smith
Mike Copenhaver
Fiona Dawson
Elaine Decanio
Trevor Eade
Jennifer Eaves and Darcy Reeves
Stephen Goldberg and Tim Kollatschny
Jan Harrell
Bryan Hlavinka and David Theisen
Pam Holder and Carole Hunt
Alan Hurwitz
Greg Jeu and James Hurst
Jay Jones
Rick Kammerer and Tim Cagle
Jim Kovach and Ben Montalbano
Gregg Ledford and O Hoang
Kenneth Lester, DC and Richard M. Layman, MD
Ryan Levy and Ian Eastveld
David Muck and Cole Martelli
H. Joe Nelson
Clay Rogers
Mike Ryan
Ross Smith and Tony Shelton
Steven Wagner
Geoffrey Westergaard
Bill Williams

This fundraising event is important for two reasons:

1. To quickly raise money to support Annise through December 12th (the date
of the run-off) and elect her Mayor that night
2. To demonstrate that our community – LGBT and allies – is a powerful force
to be reckoned with.  When have you seen the Houston LGBT rally united
around a cause, an issue, a statement???  NOW is OUR time to be a part of
this incredible moment in the United States LGBT movement for equal rights.
I didn’t give up my rights to become an American citizen to sit back and do
nothing to make it better!  And I want to you help me.

Although we are fortunate that each of the major candidates have been
supportive of our community’s struggle for equal rights, this election is
not simply about that.  Annise Parker is hands down the most qualified
candidate. However, for our community this election is also about a
breakthrough.

Annise’s election can provide hope for that gay 12 year old from The
Woodlands who is living in a home and attending a school at which they are
ostracized.   It can show a community leader in Mississippi that it is
possible through honesty and competence to be elected to public office in
the South.   It is also about loyalty to a member of our community who took
the personal risk and made the extraordinary effort to lead the way as an
open and honest LGBT public official.  In her 8 previous runs for office and
her 12 years of public service to our City, Annise Parker has served
diligently and with excellence, has been recognized for her leadership
abilities and has never been tainted in any way by public scandal.  She has
been a role model not only for our community–but to the community at large.

I am asking you to join me on the Host Committee for this event.  Host
Committee Members will commit to giving OR raising a minimum of $1,000 by
November 11th.   That is just $100 each from 10 friends.  We can do this!

You will have two important tools:

1.  You will be able to set up a personal fundraising page through the
campaign website.  The link for this page can be included in an email you
send to your friends–allowing them to click through to make the donation at
your personal fundraising page.  You can also track your progress through
the week–as can your friends–from a thermometer which will appear on your
site.  You can see my page at
http://parker.helpmycampaign.com/fionajdawson/myfundraising

OR

2.  You can provide a list of email addresses for people you want to contact
and the campaign will send an email–which will appear to come from
you–with a colorful standard layout and wording.  The recipient will be
able to click through from this email and make a donation.  If you select
this method you (and the link) will be assigned a code, from which we  can
track donations that result from your email.  The difference between this
option and the first option is that “look” of the email your friends receive
in this option will be much more ‘finished’ and ‘professional’ looking.

On December 12th, we have the opportunity to make history by electing Annise
Parker Mayor of Houston, Texas–representing more constituents than
Governors of 16 states!

Will you be a part of the leadership of the LGBT community who made this
happen?  I sincerely hope so!

NEXT STEPS:

Please respond to this email and say either, “Yes!  Count me in!  Tell me
what to do next” or “No, I can’t commit to raising or giving $1,000″.  If
you respond with the later, you can still give what you can on my personal
fundraising page at:
http://parker.helpmycampaign.com/fionajdawson/myfundraising and come to the
event.  However, wouldn’t it be great to have hundreds of people of the LGBT
community to make a united statement by putting their names together and
saying, “Yes!  We Can!” (to steal someone else’s phrase…:-)

With love and yours in equality,

Your friend,

Fiona

After taking a few hours to celebrate their respective victories,  Houston Mayoral candidates Gene Locke and Annise Parker are back in campaign mode.

They have two big priorities: raising more money to compete in the runoff  election, and reaching out to the two  losing mayoral candidates and their supporters.

I spoke briefly with conservative Roy Morales who won 20% of the vote.  He told me he is taking time to think about his next move.  That includes talking with his supporters to decide if  he should endorse Parker, Locke, or none  of the above.  

In the one TV commercial that Morales released before the election, he  attacked his opponents and labeled them as liberals

 How is he going to mesh his conservative principles with his former  liberal opponents?

I also spoke with Lucinda Guinn who managed Peter Brown’s campaign.  Guinn told me that Brown hasn’t made any decision.  Brown probably has more in common politically with both Locke and Parker, but remember how nasty things turned at the end?  In her final TV campaign AD, Parker accused Brown of  distorting her record and said he couldn’t be trusted.  During his final commercial, Brown accused Locke of  financial mismanagement in his role as legal counsel for the Houston Sports Authority.

Hey, that’s politics.

Don’t take it personally.

 On Wednesday, Parker and Locke said they would be happy to get an endorsement from either one, or both.

Houston Attorney Roland Garcia  has resigned from the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority Board of  Directors to join the Annise Parker for Mayor Campaign as a Senior Advisor and member of her finance team. 

In a statement sent to reporters, Garcia essentially said  the runoff  election between Parker and Houston Attorney Gene Locke is to important for him to stay on the sidelines.

City ordinance prohibits a member of the Sports Authority Board from raising funds for a candidate.

Garcia, of the Greenberg Traurig Law Firm, has been a Parker supporter since day one of the campaign, but the timing of his resignation is drawing criticism from the Locke campaign.

“This sounds like nothing more than a political stunt.  I guess the Parker campaign is wasting no time letting Houston know the kind of campaign they will run,” said Kim Devlin, the spokesperson for Locke’s campaign.

So what’s the history between Garcia and Locke?

Gene Locke’s law firm,  Andrews Kurth, is  the legal counsel for the Sports Authority.  The city’s major sports stadiums were built and continue to be managed by the Houston Sports Authority.

Garcia’s resignation comes at a time when the sports authority may need a multi – million dollar taxpayer bailout to help rescue a stadium bond deal.

Now that he’s off the board, Garcia isn’t wasting any time in helping Parker get ahead in the campaign. 

 He is hosting a fundraiser for her at his home next week.

“Annise is the most qualified candidate to be Mayor of Houston and has more experience in city government than  all of her opponents combined,” said Garcia in a letter sent to potential campaign donors.

After securing a spot in the runoff   election,  Houston Mayoral candidate Gene Locke emailed a message to his  supporters.  Thanking them for their hard work and vowing to press on to victory.

Houston Mayoral Candidate  Gene Locke spent part of election day campaigning in Houston’s East End. 

He was joined by State Senator Mario Gallegos,  State Rep. Carol Alvarado, and members of the Houston Police Officers Union and Firefighters Union that endorsed him.

That was Locke’s last campaign stop, where he said he felt energized by his supporters.

Now they are moving on to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Houston to wait for the votes to pour in.

The North Houston Tea Party Patriots held a rally Monday night at the Sam Houston Race Park.

More than 5-thousand passionate people showed up to voice their frustrations with everything from  President Barack Obama’s plan to reform health care  to government bailouts and taxes.

Many in the crowd vowed to work harder to elect people who represent them in Washington without compromising their core values.

I didn’t get to stay long, since I was really there to catch up with Houston Mayoral candidate Roy Morales. 

Morales said the crowd of conservatives represented the kind of people who liked his message and would vote for him on election day.

Other people I spotted in the crowd included:  Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill who is running for relection.

Stan Stanart, who told me he was running in the 2010 GOP Primary for Harris County Clerk, to replace fellow Republican Beverly Kaufman who is not running for reelection.

It’s down to the wire for all the candidates running for Mayor of  Houston.

Like his opponents, Gene Locke is planning a last-minute push that involves get out the vote activities starting today  and leading up to the time when all of the votes are counted on election day.

Here is a list of some of the activities the Locke campaign is planning: