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For candidates Annise Parker and Peter Brown, it was work at city hall. Controller Parker presented to council the state of Houston’s fiscal affairs. She says her experience makes the difference.
“Its a combination of work as controller, and campaigning for mayor. I’m going to be doing phone banking and I have a big rally for my volunteers and donors this evening.”
PH : “There’s not more you can do…the eve of?”
Parker : “This campaign’s been going on for nine months. The hard work will all pay off, or not. I feel quite confident in my chances in this election, but at this point, the die is pretty well cast.”
CM Peter Brown says knowing the inner workings of the largest state in Texas is a plus.
“We’re casting a very wide net about continuing the progress of the Bill White administration and making Houston even better, than dealing with the fundamental issues like crime, traffic and flooding that face our city. I’m really excited about, I can’t wait for tomorrow evening and of course, you never know what the result’s gonna be but, I have a lot of friends around the city and I expect at the very least, to be in a runoff.”
Outside city hall, I caught up with former city attorney Gene Locke who was shaking a lot hands before the start of a rally. He knows the possibility exists that the outcome won’t be initially decided.
“I’m prepared. If there is a runoff, we’ll be happy to take it on. I’m not concerned about either candidate, I’m just concerned making sure that my message gets out to the people of Houston.”
PH : “Do you feel that you’ve done everything you could in your campaign?”
Locke: “I am very pleased with what we’ve done. We’ve come from nowhere, to really be a extremely effective campaign. We’ve gotten the message out, and I really love where we are.”
Finally, Harris County Board of Education Trustee Roy Morales was busy answering phones at his east side campaign HQ. He realizes the mountain that stands in his way.
“You know, it would have been nice to have some more money, but we’ve had so much enthusiasm, so many volunteers that have just offered up their time, a lot of activity going on.”
PH : “You being the underdog, that puts you at an advantage because you’ve got nowhere else to go but up.”
Morales : “That’s been the whole motto of this policy. What do we have to lose? We just want to get a message out there. We’re running for the people.”
Polls open at 7am.
PH, KUHF-Houston Public Radio News.