I was offline for a couple of hours after a storm knocked out power to 4,000 homes in Kingwood. Now, we’re back and with some good stuff in the ol’ inbox.
Poll: Parker Holds Early Lead
in Mayoral Race
Houston, TX Today the Service Employees International Union, Local 1 and the Houston Organization of Public Employees, Local 123 are releasing an independent poll that shows that Annise Parker holds an early lead over all other candidates in Houstons mayoral election.
Key findings of the independent poll include:
? Annise Parker leads her closest opponent by a 2-to-1 advantage in an initial vote preference for mayor.
? Annise Parker holds a substantial advantage over her opponents in favorability and name identification.
? When voters are read a completely positive introduction to each candidate, Annise Parker holds a doubledigit lead over the rest of the field.
? Voters in Houston are optimistic about the direction of the city, and give current mayor Bill White a strong favorable rating.
The poll, conducted by national research firm Hamilton Campaigns, is based on a survey of 400 registered voters who are likely to vote in the November 2009 mayoral election in Houston. Voters were interviewed by telephone in the period July 17-20, 2009. The margin of error for a sample of this size is ±4.9 percentage points, at the 95% confidence level. The racial composition of the sample was 49% White, 33% Black, 15% Hispanic, 3% Other.
Please visit www.houstonjanitors.org for a summary of the polls findings.
Poll results are in PDF format here.
Parker holds a solid lead in the election for Houstonmayor (28% Parker – 14% Locke – 13% Brown – 5% Morales — <1% Huntley – 40% undecided), though the plurality of voters are still undecided.
After hearing positive remarks about each, the results are:
Hearing all of this, who do you think you will vote for in the November 2009 election for mayor of Houston — (READ AND RANDOMIZE
LIST) (IF UNDECIDED) Well, which one do you lean toward at this time?
Annise Parker…………………………………………………………….. 33
Gene Locke……………………………………………………………… 19
Peter Brown …………………………………………………………… 18
Roy Morales ……………………………………………………………… 5
T.J. Huntley ………………………………………………………………….. 12
Undecided …………………………………………………………… 13
mayor (28% Parker – 14% Locke – 13% Brown – 5% Morales — <1% Huntley – 40%
undecided), though the plurality of voters are still undecided.
Obviously, there is work for all of them to do to close the deal; however, I agree with the pollster that Parker is doing quite well.
Update: And according to the Chron Politics blog (and the results), the poll is from late July, citing a similar poll done by KHOU and Rice University. The results of “informed” voters in that one still had the undecideds at 46%. Ultimately, it’s all about methods, especially when we have so many undecided voters.
In the so-called “informed voter” questionnaire, which simulates what might happen once voters become familiar with the candidates, Annise Parker remains in front with 15.8% of the vote. Locke is next with 13.6%, followed by Morales at 12.8%, and Brown with 10.2%.
Whether it’s the stage or the small screen, the Fall entertainment season is upon us.
