IronTiger Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the election of the mayor in Houston, weren't Ms. Parker and Mr. Locke both Democrats? Is that even allowed to have only two people running for mayor AND of the same political party? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the election of the mayor in Houston, weren't Ms. Parker and Mr. Locke both Democrats? Is that even allowed to have only two people running for mayor AND of the same political party?The mayor's race is a non-partisan race. Locke and Parker were in a runoff election after the regular election, which had other candidates Peter Brown, Roy Morales, and Amanda Ullman. Can't you just google this next time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the election of the mayor in Houston, weren't Ms. Parker and Mr. Locke both Democrats? Is that even allowed to have only two people running for mayor AND of the same political party?That's because it was an election RUNOFF. They were the ones with the highest amount of votes without a majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtticaFlinch Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 IronTiger, I realize you're young, and there may be a number of things about the way the world works that you've still yet to learn, but I really thought this was stuff they taught in school, even the public ones. So you know, the party system isn't an inherent attribute of our political system, not on any level. Also so you know, the intra-party elections are held by the parties themselves, and not by the government. This is true of the presidential election too. As many people as would like can enter any given race, but the parties hold these internal elections to give (the idiot) voters a clearer choice. If I'm not mistaken, the political parties are restricted from doing this in Houston. In national or statewide elections, the party will often not support the candidate who lost the primary and often even go so far as to disallow the loser to run under the party banner. This very thing happened a couple years back when Kermit the Frog lost the Democrat senate primary in Connecticut. Since he lost that primary, he wasn't barred from running anyhow, but he wasn't able to do so as a Democrat. Make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 15, 2010 Author Share Posted January 15, 2010 Oh, I get it. The seemingly-unfair election was more of a "sudden death" type vote, right? And Attica, I am a registered voter (I have been for several months now) so the only reason I didn't vote in the Houston election is because I'm not a Houston resident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24zulu Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Oh, I get it. The seemingly-unfair election was more of a "sudden death" type vote, right? And Attica, I am a registered voter (I have been for several months now) so the only reason I didn't vote in the Houston election is because I'm not a Houston resident.Iron, you got it, "Sudden death", as neither candidate was worth voting, "For". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Iron, you got it, "Sudden death", as neither candidate was worth voting, "For".Um, that's a completely different topic.City elections have never been party based. Candidates, or the elected, are registered or affiliated with a party perhaps, but they have no obligations or pressures to act on issues preferred by any particular party. (Have I gone crazy with the commas?)Who was our last Republican mayor? I think it was Louie "Don't Shoot" Welch. Correct me if that's not right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtticaFlinch Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Um, that's a completely different topic.City elections have never been party based. Candidates, or the elected, are registered or affiliated with a party perhaps, but they have no obligations or pressures to act on issues preferred by any particular party. (Have I gone crazy with the commas?)Who was our last Republican mayor? I think it was Louie "Don't Shoot" Welch. Correct me if that's not right.I seem to remember a time when mayoral candidates could not specify their party affiliation. Is that wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24zulu Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Um, that's a completely different topic.City elections have never been party based. Candidates, or the elected, are registered or affiliated with a party perhaps, but they have no obligations or pressures to act on issues preferred by any particular party. (Have I gone crazy with the commas?)Who was our last Republican mayor? I think it was Louie "Don't Shoot" Welch. Correct me if that's not right.RSB, sorry for the off - topic blurt... bad habit of mine. Anyway, Louie Welch was a neighbor of ours for many years, and aside politics a very good man. I believe you are right @ the republican assumption.Where's Oscar Holcombe when we need him!! Sorry, there I go again... I'm getting off at this juncture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Wasn't Jim McConn a republican? And fwiw, I could never think good thoughts about someone with the mindset of Welch..For those that need a refresher, here's a snip from the New York Times:Mr. Welch entered the race after leading a successful effort by the Houston Chamber of Commerce, of which he was president, to repeal the homosexual job rights bill. But his candidacy suffered a severe blow two weeks ago when, unaware that his voice was being broadcast on television, he said one way to halt the spread of AIDS would be to ''shoot the queers.'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanS Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Wasn't Jim McConn a republican? And fwiw, I could never think good thoughts about someone with the mindset of Welch..For those that need a refresher, here's a snip from the New York Times:....ahh yes. I yearn for the day when sexual orientation is removed from the political process. I could actually vote republican, if that actually happened... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 ....ahh yes. I yearn for the day when sexual orientation is removed from the political process. I could actually vote republican, I knew it! Not that there's anything wrong with that... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
24zulu Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Wasn't Jim McConn a republican? And fwiw, I could never think good thoughts about someone with the mindset of Welch..For those that need a refresher, here's a snip from the New York Times:Jim McConn was a republican, and is a great example of what Iron inquired about in post#1. When he ran for mayor in 1977, he was in a runoff, and won against another republican, Frank Briscoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Dogs Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 I heard that some Houston city term limits commission is proposing extending the current terms of the mayor, controller, and 14-member city council from 6 years to 8 years (including those who were elected in 2009 to serve a total of 10 years by winning re-election in 2011 and 2015).Which means Houston Mayor Annise Parker could serve up to 10 years (like Kathy Whitmire did from '82 to '92 for 5 2-year terms). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Dogs Posted August 6, 2010 Share Posted August 6, 2010 24 Zulu, so Jim McConn was Houston's last Republican mayor right ?Wasn't Louie Welch a Democrat because the last few mayors are Dems (Whitmire, Lanier, Brown, White, Parker). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted August 7, 2010 Share Posted August 7, 2010 Is Lanier a de facto Democrat? Some of his policies seemed more in keeping with those associated with the Republican platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Welch and McConn were both republicans. Lanier was/is a democrat, but I agree with bigtx.Check out how many different times Oscar Holcombe was mayor. Were there limitations back then. He was mayor at various times from 1921 - 1957.TermMayor2010—Annise Parker2004–2010Bill White1998–2004Lee Brown1992–1998Bob Lanier1982–1991Kathy Whitmire1978–1981Jim McConn1974–1977Fred Hofheinz1964–1973Louie Welch1958–1963Lewis Cutrer1956–1957Oscar F. Holcombe1953–1955Roy Hofheinz1947–1952Oscar F. Holcombe1943–1946Otis Massey1941–1942Neal Pickett1939–1941Oscar F. Holcombe1937–1938R. H. Fonville1933–1936Oscar F. Holcombe1929–1933Walter E. Monteith1921–1929Oscar F. Holcombe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Term limits is a relatively new thing. If memory serves me correctly, it started with lanier. Personally, I think they should serve longer terms with a few more chances to run. Two yrs is hardly enough time for them learn the ropes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Dogs Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Ricco67, the reason why Houston passed term limits was because nobody could beat Kathy Whitmire at the polls (she was elected 5 times as Houston's mayor in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, and 1989) and the conservatives and those who passed the city's term limits didn't realize that it would effect them as well (Bob Lanier's unsuccessful bid to overturn it) which opened the door for Lee Brown being the city's first African American mayor in 1997.New York City recently extended the mayor's term from 8 years to 12 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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