By Madhuri Dey
Houston, Nov. 4 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The city of Houston has faced a problem regarding the election of it’s mayor. The two candidates who were running for the seat, have headed for a runoff as none have secured a majority. Annise Parker, the City Controller and Gene Locke, a former Attorney General, were the ones running for the election. Annise secured about 31% of the votes whereas Locke secured about 25%. Peter Brown collected about 23% with Roy Morales a few steps behind him.

The runoff has not yet been decided, but the date has been tentatively set on the 12th of December. There is widespread hope among her supporters that she would win the elections. If she is indeed elected, it would be the first time that the city will have an openly gay mayor. According to her supporters, she is widely known and liked. She is a prominent gay rights activist. On the other hand, Locke is an eminent civil rights leader and he is hoping o become the first African-American leader to become the mayor in America’s fourth largest city.

Parker seemed quite confident about her win as she promised her supporters that the race was not yet over and asked them to join her at the headquarters the next day. Locke, on the other hand, seemed equally confident about his status as the underdog. He seemed quite at ease and asserted that he liked winning when the odds are against him. He realized that wining the post is going to be difficult, but was assured that it is not completely impossible. The race is probably the most closely contested among all the other elections held this year.