The lesbian and the lawyer in Houston

Rick Casey:

Here's the bottom line, or maybe the punch line:

In Houston, it is now harder for a lawyer to be elected mayor than a lesbian.

In the last two weeks of the hard-fought campaign, several mailings — one of them funded to the tune of $40,000 by candidate Gene Locke's finance chairman and another finance committee member — urged voters to choose Locke because Annise Parker is a lesbian.

Parker hit back with two tough mailings attacking Locke for his history as a lawyer and a lobbyist.

The first on one side repeated line after line of what it called: “The three words Houston taxpayers dread most: Lawyer. Lobbyist. Locke.” The other side quotes a federal judge as critical of Locke's performance as city attorney on a high-profile case, and said his firm has billed $17 million in fees to the city, Metro and the Sports Authority at rates as high as $640 per hour.

The two candidates disagreed on few issues. Both are seen as moderate to liberal Democrats. One was a college civil rights activist, the other a college gay rights activist. Both matured into successful professional careers before entering politics as mainstream candidates who no longer focused on civil or gay rights.

...

I do not think Parker won because she was a lesbian. She won a close race because she was seen as a more competent administrator. Since there was little disagreement on the issues that became the deciding factor.

I do think that Locke was the better candidate on the issue of dealing with illegal immigrants that are going through the criminal justice system.

The national media has made much more of the fact that she is a lesbian than Houston voters did.