Annise Parker

Annise Parker (born May 17, 1956, Houston, Texas) is a Houston-area politician currently holding office as the Controller of the City of Houston. This position is only second to the Mayor. Previously, she served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council since 1997 although term limits ended her time on council and she decided to run for controller in 2003. She ran unopposed in 2005 and 2007; as of September 2008, she is into her final term. Parker is one of the highest-ranking openley GLBT-elected municipal official in any of the 10 largest U.S. cities.citation |title= Police State |url=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/cms-this_issue/200808--Police+State.html?PHPSESSID=35b97a492fd1f7f349a9638eaa3b1d4f |first=Annise D. Parker |date=August, 2008 |periodical=OutSmart Magazine |accessdate=2008-09-07 ]

City Council

Parker ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1991 (for District C) and 1995 (finishing third in the special election for At-Large position 4, the seat vacated by Sheila Jackson Lee after her election to Congress). In 1997, she prevailed in the runoff election for At-Large position 1 to become Houston's first openly gay or lesbian elected official.citation |title= Houston Elects Lee Brown As Its First Black Mayor |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2DE163CF93BA35751C1A961958260 |first=Sam Howe |last=Verhovek |date=December 8, 1997 |periodical=The New York Times |accessdate=2007-11-25 ] She was re-elected twice to the same seat in 1999 and 2001 without being forced to a run-off. [http://www.houstontx.gov/citysec/index.html]

Mayor

In 2008 Parker annouced interest in running for Mayor of Houston in 2009. She has already been endorsed by some organizations.citation |title= Annie's List Makes Early Endorsement of Annise Parker for Houston Mayor in 2009 |url=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/cms-this_issue/200808--News+Briefs.html#annie |first=Nancy Ford |date=August 14, 2008 |periodical=OutSmart Magazine |accessdate=2008-09-01 ] Other canadiates that have she may run against include former Texas Governor Mark White, former Kemah, Texas Mayor Bill King & Houston City Councilman Peter Brown.citation |title= Former Texas Governor Mark W. White may run for Houston mayor |url=http://www.khou.com/news/local/houstonmetro/stories/khou080819_mp_governor_mark_white.1452d4ce.html |first=Associated Press |date=August 19, 2008 |periodical=KHOU-DT |accessdate=2008-09-01 ] If elected she will become the first GLBT Mayor of a top 10 U.S. City.

Pre-Elected Official Life

Prior to serving as an elected official, she was a co-owner of Inklings Bookshop (with business partner Pokey Anderson) during the late 1980s - 1997. She also served as president of the Neartown Civic Association between 1995-1997. She is also a certified CPA, starting with Mosbacher Energy in the early 1980s.

Parker and her life partner, Kathy Hubbard, have been together for 16 years. They have two adopted children.

References

External links

* [http://www.anniseparker.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.houstontx.gov/controller/index.html Office of the City Controller for Houston official website]