Houston Mayor Annise Parker Files for Reelection Bid

Seeking a second term, Annise Parker, the lesbian mayor of the nation’s fourth-largest city, filed papers Thursday to appear on the November ballot, the Houston Chronicle reports.

“I just filed for re-election,” Parker tweeted Thursday. “I love this city more than ever. I am excited by the new opportunities of each day. It is an honor to serve. –a”

Earlier this year, Parker was the target of one Houston antigay activist, who accused the mayor of “using [her] position of power to promote the homosexual agenda.”

Parker fired back in a June fund-raising appeal: “I am proud of the role my election has played in our national movement for equality,” she wrote. “Since then, I’ve heard from people across our country and around the world. They are men and women, gay and straight, who all celebrated our victory as a symbol of progress — that in the America we believe in, what really matters is what you can do, not your sexual orientation."

The Chronicle reports that Parker currently has $2.3 million in her campaign war chest.