Time to decide: Voters across Houston head to polls
By BRADLEY OLSON HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 3, 2009, 8:41AM
Voters today are taking to the polls for an election that could drastically reshape the dynamics at City Hall.
In a race that largely has failed to capture the attention of Houstonians, polls show a high number of voters remained undecided up until the last minute about whom they wanted to replace the term-limited Mayor Bill White.
Two Montrose polling places reported lackluster turnout this morning. And several voters at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center at 1475 West Gray were turned away because they weren’t in Precinct 200. Poll workers said the center was an early voting site, meaning anyone in the county could vote there during the last two weeks, and some citizens thought that was still the case today.
Poll workers at Grace Lutheran Church at 2515 Waugh reported slower-than-normal turnout. About 50 people had shown up during the morning rush.
The contest between the four leading mayoral candidates, City Councilman Peter Brown, City Controller Annise Parker, former city attorney Gene Locke and Harris County Board of Education Trustee Roy Morales is as close as any mayoral election in recent memory, with few pundits daring to prognosticate about which two candidates will compete in an expected December runoff. Three other minor candidates on the mayoral ballot have run below-the-radar campaigns, but are not expected to draw significant votes.
For all but the last week of the campaign, the race focused almost exclusively on issues, policy ideas and endorsements. From the beginning, the four leading candidates’ prescriptions for fixing the city’s problems with crime, transportation and economic development differed only in nuance, leaving voters with little to distinguish one from the other.
Brown, an architect, has poured nearly $3 million of his family fortune to get his message out, blanketing the airwaves beginning in August with his “blueprint” for Houston and touting his experience as a small business owner. Parker, who has had less money to spend than her major opponents, has run a straight-talk campaign focusing on her experience as a six-time elected official who can lead the city through an expected fiscal crisis. Locke, a former city attorney, has received the lion’s share of endorsements from labor, business and establishment groups and officials and has campaigned on his experience as a senior adviser to METRO, the Port of Houston and other local governments. Morales, who has raised only a fraction of that of his opponents, has gone out of his way in campaign appearances to point out that he is the only Republican in a race.
The campaign took a strikingly negative turn in the final 10 days, as Locke attacked Brown for attempting to buy the support of African-American voters and Brown shot back by touting the endorsements of three well-known black ministers, all of whom said they were offended at the suggestion their support could be bought. Parker attacked Brown in joint appearances and a television ad for claiming credit for city initiatives in which he was not primarily involved and exaggerating his resume. And Brown attacked Locke and Parker, asserting that their records indicated a propensity to raise taxes in a mailer that drew a sharp rebuke from Mayor White.
The high percentage of undecided voters — polls put the number at between 35 percent and 40 percent less than two weeks before election day — make the results almost impossible to handicap, analysts have said.
The same goes for races for city controller, nine competitive city council races, Houston school board and Houston Community College trustee seats, and 11 state constitutional ballot propositions.
The municipal races are expected to completely reshape the power structure and relationships at City Hall.
The controller’s race features Council Members Ronald Green, Pam Holm and M.J. Khan. Polls show far higher numbers of voters are uncertain about this choice, despite the name recognition the three council members may have drawn from their time in office.
The race also turned negative in the final week, with Holm’s campaign attacking Green for owing $120,000 in back taxes and fees to the IRS, and Green asserting that Holm inflated her job title at an investment firm. Green said the taxes were part of a dispute with the IRS in which he was “aggressively” advocating for himself, and Holm’s campaign manager said her descriptions of her role at an investment firm were accurate.
The election will bring at least five new council members to City Hall, and several incumbents face what could prove unusually close battles for reelection.
Area ballots also will include two HCC annexation referendums, school district races and a handful of bond elections.
Chronicle reporter Dale Lezon contributed to this report.
bradley.olson@chron.com
