Annise Parker for Mayor of Houston

update: race is now in a runoff. stay tuned to learn how to make sure Annise Parker becomes the county's first lesbian mayor for the nations 5th largest city!

Confident, competent and experienced, Annise Parker stands on the brink of leadership. Running for mayor of Houston, this former city council member and current city controller stands an excellent chance of taking her place among the ranks of the few prominent gay and lesbian politicians in the country.  Parker's career and experience speaks for itself, while her openness and role as the public spokesperson for Houston's Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus brings hope to everyone in the gay and lesbian community.

Parker has taken an active role in public life since college, starting out as a gay activist assisting in the formation of Rice University's first gay student alliance. She continued working as a gay activist for a number of years before moving on to neighborhood community activism. After 6 years on the city council, Parker was elected city controller for Houston. During her time on the city council of Houston, she focused on quality of life issues, allowing neighborhoods to exercise control over their own development. As controller, she supervised departmental audits, replaced outdated computer systems, and instituted cost saving paperless measures.

Annise Parker's years of community service and her broad understanding of Houston's current political and financial situation makes her an ideal candidate to see Houston through the coming years. She plans cost cutting measures and increased efficiency in the public safety sector to balance Houston's budget and remedy financial shortfalls.

If Parker is elected Mayor of Houston, she will be the first out lesbian mayor of any of the 25 major cities in the United States. Her active role in the gay and lesbian community, as well as her work as a neighborhood activist speaks well to an attitude of support and cooperation with the community as a whole. Her election as Mayor would, as her previous election wins have, provide proof that Texans can choose their politicians based on qualifications, experience, and skill rather than sexuality.

As Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker will have the ability to advance equality in Texas and create an example for the rest of the country.