Parker's third term to include new council, challenges

With one council member ousted and five other races headed to December runoffs, whatever glow Mayor Annise Parker picked up from her reelection to a third and final term could fade quickly in 2014.

Three new faces on council already are certain in the seats being vacated by term-limited members; incumbents are at risk in two other runoffs.

Political analysts say the resulting council could make things harder for Parker to push items through the 16-member body, which has been relatively amenable of late.

"Whether you change three council members, six council members or seven council members, just adding one new person in the mix makes a difference," Parker said Wednesday.

One new member of the council already is known, with District F Councilman Al Hoang's surprise loss to Richard Nguyen, an employee of the city's Solid Waste Management Department.

Outside the council chamber Wednesday, an emotional Hoang exchanged handshakes and hugs with two city workers who shared their sympathies.

"I didn't do enough on the campaign," Hoang said. "I'm shocked."

Hoang's approach to Communist-ruled Vietnam - he prefers promoting change through trade and dialogue to a violent overthrow - has made him a target within Houston's Vietnamese community, to the point that he has received death threats and had his home picketed for meeting with Vietnamese dignitaries.

The Vietnamese portion of Nguyen's campaign website, through an Internet translation, clearly taps into those criticisms with incendiary language and photos appearing to show Hoang with Vietnamese officials. Nguyen did not return a call Wednesday, but pledges on his site to "serve the community relentlessly."

Anti-Communist scorn

In the wider results, Rice University political scientist Mark Jones and University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said it is hard to draw overarching lessons about voter moods, aside from broad apathy.

That, Jones said, allowed a fervent faction to have an outsized impact on the District F race: "Hell hath no fury like anti-Communist Vietnamese scorn."

Two controversial incumbents face runoffs: Helena Brown in District A and Andrew Burks in At-Large Position 2.

Brown has drawn scrutiny for opposing everything from street repairs to police equipment, for altering employees' timecards and for attempting to coerce a staffer to go on medical leave when she became pregnant. Brown's opponent in the runoff is the woman she beat to gain the seat two years, Brenda Stardig. Voters at the time said Stardig had aligned herself too much with Parker.

Erratic behavior

Burks ran for office at least a dozen times before winning the At Large 2 seat in a runoff two years ago. He faces former city planning commissioner and neighborhood leader David Robinson, who was the leading vote-getter.

Burks has raised eyebrows with his treatment of speakers before City Council and erratic behavior, including an incident when he initiated a confrontation with a member of the mayor's security detail.

The race most likely to give Parker heartburn is At-Large 3, where two conservatives made the runoff: bail bondsman and civic activist Michael Kubosh and former Harris County Department of Education trustee Roy Morales. Kubosh, the leading vote-getter, is best known for helping lead a successful referendum effort to repeal the city's red light cameras.

The establishment knew Kubosh would make the runoff, Jones said, but expected one of the viable Democrats in the race to be second.

"Now, they're stuck," he said. "I don't see how they can actively rally around Morales."

Runoff ahead

In the East End's District I, just 340 votes separated first from last in a four-way race. Graci Garces, chief of staff to term-limited Councilman James Rodriguez, will head to a runoff with Robert Gallegos, a detention officer at the Harris County Jail.

South Houston's District D saw 12 candidates jump in to fill term-limited Wanda Adams' chair. Lobbyist and repeat candidate Dwight Boykins will face business owner Georgia Provost. Boykins lapped the field in fundraising, spending more than $221,000 as of Oct. 26, and was by far the top vote-getter.

Both analysts said the runoffs will affect the steepness of Parker's path, but neither expected a dramatic shift.

"I don't think it'll get easier than it has been, though it could if Brown is ousted by Stardig," Jones said. "How Kubosh acts once he gets on the council will probably determine how hard it is and that we won't know if and until he actually takes his seat."