US: Houston Mayor Annise Parker wins third and final re-election

Annise Parker was re-elected on Tuesday to her third and final term as mayor of Houston, Texas.

According to Associated Press, Parker received more than 50% of the vote, which was enough to avoid a run-off in December.

The openly gay mayor was first elected in 2009 with 53.6% of the vote, where she was celebrated as showing that Texas was not as much of a conservative monolith as critics may suspect.

In her original election, she told supporters: “This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, just as it is about transforming the lives of all Houstonians for the better, and that’s what my administration will be about.”

She won her second term in 2011 in a close election in which she managed to hold off five challengers.

Now in her third re-election, she faces her final run as mayor, an administration which has so far seen Houston triumph through the recent recessions better than most major cities.

During her stay, Parker also managed to keep Houston’s overall crime rate down 8% compared to three years prior to 2010.

Houston is the fourth largest city in America and is to continue to be the largest to have an openly gay or lesbian mayor throughout Parker’s third term.

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