Houston Mayoral Race Election Results

Openly lesbian City Controller Annise Parker is expected to be elected Mayor of Houston today. She would make history as the first openly gay person to lead a major American city (Houston, the nation's 4th largest with 2.245 million residents and just under a million registered voters). To follow election results throughout the night, you can look at Harris County Elections site or follow #HouMayor on Twitter.

In early returns, Parker leads by 2,000 votes out of 80,000 cast (51.7% to 48.3%).

Polls this week had Parker lead former City Attorney Gene Locke by as many as 13 points. Locke is African American and both candidates are Democrats in this non-partisan race.

UPDATE 8:20PM PST
With 733 of 734 precincts reporting, Annise Parker has been elected Mayor of Houston 81,662 to 70,631--a margin of over 10,000 votes--53.6% to 46.4%.