As we slowly churn forward to December 12th a few items of note took place yesterday:
1. Outgoing Mayor Annise Parker gave her endorsement:
Parker cites Turner's Budget Experience in Endorsement. Rebecca Elliot, HoustonChronicle.com ($$$)
While suggesting that Turner's ancillary work on the Texas budget while a member of the State Legislature is somehow applicable to operating as the Chief Executive of Houston is a stretch, it was never a surprise, to those paying attention, which way Parker was going to lean. With a lot of her campaign staff working for Turner and her Twitter account all but announcing it already this announcement doesn't feel like a needle mover because everyone pretty much knew where her allegiances lied.
There were rumors that Parker was hoping to push Turner on some issues before she gave her endorsement but it appears that it was getting too late in the game for her to hope to get anything out of Turner lest her endorsement be considered 11th hour. The timing of this is interesting because of the following....
2. Apparently, there are polls showing King with a small lead.
I have not been able to find any media coverage on these polls. However, one is supposed to have been released by The Houston Realty Business Coalition which had King in the lead 48% to Turner's 43% with 9% undecided. Apparently the poll was of 300 Houston voters but the communique from the King campaign didn't offer any other details that might be helpful. The organization has endorsed King already for Mayor.
Given the accuracy of municipal election polling leading up to the general vote I would take all of these polling numbers with a big grain of salt. Regardless of what the numbers say the victory in this race is going to be had by the candidate who does the best job on turnout.
However, polls showing King in the lead provide some clarity as to why the Turner campaign has turned so negative. As Evan from Perry vs. World points out here: Turner's voting trends are negative with him picking up less and less voters every time he runs. This is happening despite Houston growing like a weed.
I've said before that I think King is a favorite and I see no reason to change that stance now. Turner could motivate his base, but he's running out of time to do it and the attacks that he is making don't appear to be having any effect on the voters at all.
