Election Shows the Future Has Arrived in Houston

Early in her victory speech, Houston Mayor-elect Annise Parker addressed the pink elephant in the joy-throbbing room, the history she’d just made as an openly gay candidate for the top office in America’s fourth-largest city.

“All right,” Parker said on Dec. 12, as her partner of nearly 19 years beamed at her side, “let’s get this out of the way. Here’s the announcement that you’ve been waiting for: I am proud, very proud, to have been elected the first, the very first graduate of Rice University to be mayor of Houston.”

Her supporters burst into laughter and cheers at what was a textbook moment for other aspiring lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender candidates. A little humor does indeed go a long way. But in this case, the humor carried with it some Texas-sized truth about why Parker won: Voters appreciated her deep Texas roots.

Parker was born and raised in Houston, graduated from Rice, worked 20 years in the oil and gas industry, then began a political career — serving six years on the City Council, then five as city controller, where she was in charge of billions of tax dollars and oversaw Houston’s investments.

As her campaign website put it, Parker has “Houston Hometown Values.”

More at: The Cap Times!