Brown Takes Close Houston Mayoral Win
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HOUSTON — Lee P. Brown, the nation’s former drug policy director, became Houston’s first black mayor Saturday, narrowly defeating businessman Rob Mosbacher.
With all precincts counted, Brown had 156,169 votes, or 53%, to Mosbacher’s 140,321, or 47%.
Recent polls had put Brown 3 to 10 percentage points ahead of Mosbacher, son of Robert A. Mosbacher, a former Bush administration Commerce secretary, in a race that attracted the attention of President Clinton and former President Bush.
Many believed that the race would hinge on the turnout of black voters. About one-third of Houston’s 1.8 million residents are black, one-third are white and one-third are Latino.
The campaign was dominated by attacks on the candidates’ pasts.
Mosbacher had accused Brown of being a career bureaucrat and lousy administrator. He attacked Brown’s record as police commissioner of New York City.
Brown labeled Mosbacher a tax dodge because a company in which he was a minority investor moved out of a Texas county to avoid higher taxes.
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