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Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund
LGBT fights in common
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was repealed on November 3, 2015, in a referendum organized by Annise Parker’s opponents.
Sermons subpoenaed
A controversial ex-mayor of Houston, Texas looking for higher office has ponied up $5000 for the 2026 gubernatorial campaign of termed-out state Senate Democrat Toni Atkins. Annise Parker, current President & CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, made the contribution on December 6, according to a December 10 disclosure filing.
A decade ago, Parker was forced to back away from an effort to subpoena five local pastors opposed a rule prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians. “The subpoenas drew fire from conservative groups across the country, which called them an attack on religious liberty and freedom of speech.
Victory Fund CEO Annise Parker seeks victory for Atkins
The controversy emerged during a legal battle over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO, which expanded the city’s ban on discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity,” reported The Texas Tribune in an October 29, 2014 story. “The subpoenas, sent to some outspoken pastors and religious leaders who had opposed the ordinance, had asked for ‘all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession.’ Parker has said that the controversy was based on a misunderstanding. The goal of the subpoenas, she said earlier this month, was to see if there were any specific instructions given by pastors about how to fill out a petition challenging the ordinance. She suggested that the outrage over the word ‘sermon’ in the subpoenas may have been due to ‘deliberate misinterpretation.’”
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was repealed a year later, on November 3, 2015, in a referendum organized by Parker’s opponents. “With 95 percent of votes counted, 61 percent of voters opposed the measure. The embattled ordinance, better known as HERO, would have made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on 15 different ‘protected characteristics,’ including sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity,” reported The Texas Tribune.
According to the same account, “Supporters hoped the ordinance would align Houston with other major cities with similar measures in place. But opponents successfully attacked the measure with arguments about bathrooms. Dubbing it ‘the bathroom ordinance,’ they argued the ordinance’s gender identity protection would allow sexual predators to enter women’s bathrooms. Outside of polling places, signs read ‘NO Men in Women’s Bathrooms.’ And television ads bankrolled by opponents depicted a young girl being followed into a bathroom stall by a mysterious older man.” Parker, who became Houston’s first openly gay mayor in 2010, left office in 2016.
Now, according to published reports, she may run against incumbent Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a fellow Democrat. “Parker is the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which is dedicated to recruiting and supporting queer candidates for elected office nationwide. She announced in February that she is stepping down from the Victory Fund at the end of the year,” the Houston Chronicle reported April 30. “She looked at a run for county judge in 2018, but she did not want to run against popular Republican incumbent Ed Emmett, a personal friend who was not seen as politically vulnerable at the time — despite his eventual loss to Hidalgo.”
Big money avengers
Brian Maienschein, the ex-San Diego city councilman and termed-out state Assembly Democrat, lost badly last month to Heather Ferbert to fill the seat of termed-out San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott, 56.83 percent to 43.17, according to final results posted online by the County Registrar of Voters.
Did Heather Ferbert win because Maienschein played his cards wrong?
Now it appears that at least some of that lopsided margin may have come courtesy of a well-heeled group of out-of-town card room owners out for revenge. “California’s card rooms lost a costly legislative fight this year as they sought to kill a bill that would allow their competitors, tribal casinos, to sue them,” reports CalMatters in a December post. “In an extraordinary display of political retribution, California’s card room industry spent more than $3 million in the lead up to the November election to oppose four lawmakers who played key roles in the bill’s passage. Three of the candidates targeted by the card rooms ended up losing, including the rare defeat of an incumbent Democratic senator. The card rooms also went after termed-out Democratic Assembly member Brian Maienschein in his failed bid for San Diego city attorney. The card rooms spent at least $443,000 opposing Maienschein. He got on the card rooms’ bad side when he cast a key vote that let the bill advance from the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which Maienschein chaired. [Keith] Sharp, the lawyer for Hawaiian Gardens, said Maienschein also refused to meet with him and other card room representatives before the vote. Maienschein didn’t return messages. A TV ad from the card rooms attacked Maienschein for his voting record before he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2019.”
The outcome of the big money clash with the card rooms turned out better for Oceanside Republican Laurie Davies, who “won her race for reelection despite the card room’s cash onslaught. And just barely. Only 3870 out of 230,546 total votes separated her from her Democratic challenger, Chris Duncan. The card rooms spent at least $1.3 million on outreach boosting Duncan and slamming Davies, according to state campaign finance reports.
One mailer said she was aligned with ‘anti-choice radicals,’ ‘MAGA extremists’ and ‘Big Oil.’ Davies infuriated card rooms when she cast a vote that let the gambling bill advance out of a committee this summer, despite having a cardroom in her district.” Offered Sharp: “We really don’t want to be the sort of, you know, the Rodney Dangerfield of industries. We want to be respected, We (will) work hard to continue to gain respect and protect our employees, protect our cities, protect our businesses.”
Adds the CalMatters account: “To the card rooms, the three defeats were a sign their money was well spent, even if the cash went to purely punitive purposes. Case in point: Two of the lawmakers who lost their races were vacating their Assembly seats and were running in non-legislative races. Had they won, it’s unlikely they’d deal very often with card room related issues. Tribes have long outspent card rooms in state politics. Tribes have given candidates for state office more than $23.5 million since 2014.
“That’s more than double what oil companies have given the state’s politicians during the same years. Card rooms have spent only a fraction as much. More recently, tribes have contributed $6.3 million to candidates since January 2023 while card rooms have donated at least $1.3 million. Those funds don’t include the $3 million the card rooms spent targeting the four candidates this fall.”
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund
LGBT fights in common
Houston ex-mayor donates to Toni Atkins governor fund
LGBT fights in common
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was repealed on November 3, 2015, in a referendum organized by Annise Parker’s opponents.
Sermons subpoenaed
A controversial ex-mayor of Houston, Texas looking for higher office has ponied up $5000 for the 2026 gubernatorial campaign of termed-out state Senate Democrat Toni Atkins. Annise Parker, current President & CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, made the contribution on December 6, according to a December 10 disclosure filing.
A decade ago, Parker was forced to back away from an effort to subpoena five local pastors opposed a rule prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians. “The subpoenas drew fire from conservative groups across the country, which called them an attack on religious liberty and freedom of speech.
Victory Fund CEO Annise Parker seeks victory for Atkins
The controversy emerged during a legal battle over the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO, which expanded the city’s ban on discrimination to include sexual orientation and gender identity,” reported The Texas Tribune in an October 29, 2014 story. “The subpoenas, sent to some outspoken pastors and religious leaders who had opposed the ordinance, had asked for ‘all speeches, presentations, or sermons related to HERO, the Petition, Mayor Annise Parker, homosexuality, or gender identity prepared by, delivered by, revised by, or approved by you or in your possession.’ Parker has said that the controversy was based on a misunderstanding. The goal of the subpoenas, she said earlier this month, was to see if there were any specific instructions given by pastors about how to fill out a petition challenging the ordinance. She suggested that the outrage over the word ‘sermon’ in the subpoenas may have been due to ‘deliberate misinterpretation.’”
The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) was repealed a year later, on November 3, 2015, in a referendum organized by Parker’s opponents. “With 95 percent of votes counted, 61 percent of voters opposed the measure. The embattled ordinance, better known as HERO, would have made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on 15 different ‘protected characteristics,’ including sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity,” reported The Texas Tribune.
According to the same account, “Supporters hoped the ordinance would align Houston with other major cities with similar measures in place. But opponents successfully attacked the measure with arguments about bathrooms. Dubbing it ‘the bathroom ordinance,’ they argued the ordinance’s gender identity protection would allow sexual predators to enter women’s bathrooms. Outside of polling places, signs read ‘NO Men in Women’s Bathrooms.’ And television ads bankrolled by opponents depicted a young girl being followed into a bathroom stall by a mysterious older man.” Parker, who became Houston’s first openly gay mayor in 2010, left office in 2016.
Now, according to published reports, she may run against incumbent Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a fellow Democrat. “Parker is the president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which is dedicated to recruiting and supporting queer candidates for elected office nationwide. She announced in February that she is stepping down from the Victory Fund at the end of the year,” the Houston Chronicle reported April 30. “She looked at a run for county judge in 2018, but she did not want to run against popular Republican incumbent Ed Emmett, a personal friend who was not seen as politically vulnerable at the time — despite his eventual loss to Hidalgo.”
Big money avengers
Brian Maienschein, the ex-San Diego city councilman and termed-out state Assembly Democrat, lost badly last month to Heather Ferbert to fill the seat of termed-out San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott, 56.83 percent to 43.17, according to final results posted online by the County Registrar of Voters.
Did Heather Ferbert win because Maienschein played his cards wrong?
Now it appears that at least some of that lopsided margin may have come courtesy of a well-heeled group of out-of-town card room owners out for revenge. “California’s card rooms lost a costly legislative fight this year as they sought to kill a bill that would allow their competitors, tribal casinos, to sue them,” reports CalMatters in a December post. “In an extraordinary display of political retribution, California’s card room industry spent more than $3 million in the lead up to the November election to oppose four lawmakers who played key roles in the bill’s passage. Three of the candidates targeted by the card rooms ended up losing, including the rare defeat of an incumbent Democratic senator. The card rooms also went after termed-out Democratic Assembly member Brian Maienschein in his failed bid for San Diego city attorney. The card rooms spent at least $443,000 opposing Maienschein. He got on the card rooms’ bad side when he cast a key vote that let the bill advance from the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which Maienschein chaired. [Keith] Sharp, the lawyer for Hawaiian Gardens, said Maienschein also refused to meet with him and other card room representatives before the vote. Maienschein didn’t return messages. A TV ad from the card rooms attacked Maienschein for his voting record before he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2019.”
The outcome of the big money clash with the card rooms turned out better for Oceanside Republican Laurie Davies, who “won her race for reelection despite the card room’s cash onslaught. And just barely. Only 3870 out of 230,546 total votes separated her from her Democratic challenger, Chris Duncan. The card rooms spent at least $1.3 million on outreach boosting Duncan and slamming Davies, according to state campaign finance reports.
One mailer said she was aligned with ‘anti-choice radicals,’ ‘MAGA extremists’ and ‘Big Oil.’ Davies infuriated card rooms when she cast a vote that let the gambling bill advance out of a committee this summer, despite having a cardroom in her district.” Offered Sharp: “We really don’t want to be the sort of, you know, the Rodney Dangerfield of industries. We want to be respected, We (will) work hard to continue to gain respect and protect our employees, protect our cities, protect our businesses.”
Adds the CalMatters account: “To the card rooms, the three defeats were a sign their money was well spent, even if the cash went to purely punitive purposes. Case in point: Two of the lawmakers who lost their races were vacating their Assembly seats and were running in non-legislative races. Had they won, it’s unlikely they’d deal very often with card room related issues. Tribes have long outspent card rooms in state politics. Tribes have given candidates for state office more than $23.5 million since 2014.
“That’s more than double what oil companies have given the state’s politicians during the same years. Card rooms have spent only a fraction as much. More recently, tribes have contributed $6.3 million to candidates since January 2023 while card rooms have donated at least $1.3 million. Those funds don’t include the $3 million the card rooms spent targeting the four candidates this fall.”
— Matt Potter
The Reader offers $25 for news tips published in this column. Call our voice mail at 619-235-3000, ext. 440, or sandiegoreader.com/staff/matt-potter/contact/.
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