Election Notes

She calmly guided Houston through the oil bust and cleaned up the police force and reformed city government. But last week voters unceremoniously ejected Mayor Kathy Whitmire from office after 10 years. Land developer Bob Lanier and state representative Sylvester Turner placed first and second, respectively; they will meet in a runoff next month.

Residents were unwilling to support Whitmire's grandiose proposal to build a $1 billion monorail system, and worried about street crime. Caught off balance by two strong opponents, she was unable to respond in a forceful and convincing manner.