Locke is in, Hall is out

This comes as no surprise.

It went as expected at this morning's press conference. Former City Attorney Gene Locke is running for mayor of Houston in the November election. Former City Attorney Benjamin Hall III, who never officially declared his candidacy, will not run.

As expected, by me and by others. On the assumption that Roy Morales isn't really seriously running for Mayor, we're down to the three candidates we were expecting before - Annise Parker, Peter Brown, and Gene Locke. Unless a more credible Latino candidate gets in the race, this is likely to be our lineup, modulo a couple of fringey perpetual candidates.

UPDATE: Here's the full Chron story, which says that this deal, if you'll call it that, was facilitated by Rep. Al Green.

The two former city attorneys had talked weeks ago as potential opponents. But, they said, Green more recently helped them focus on the fact that they agree on major issues such as how to create jobs and housing for city residents.

Hall said he was promised no favors in return for deciding not to run. He also said his decision had nothing to do with questions about whether he would meet the 12-month residency requirement for running for the top Houston job. Hall lives in the separate municipality of Piney Point Village but considered himself a resident of Houston because, he said, he owns residential property inside the city.

Hall is registered to vote in Piney Point Village. He said he will switch his registration so he can vote for Locke.

Okey dokey then. Hair Balls has more, while Miya has a related post from Friday.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on February 09, 2009 to Election 2009