HPOU president Ray Hunt admits he was surprised by the split.
“We have a lot of their members that are members with us, one of them was standing on stage with us and he didn't vote to endorse Ben Hall, he voted to endorse Mayor Parker,” Hunt tells KTRH News. “I would like to hear why they don't want to endorse Mayor Parker.”
“She inherited a very bad economy and still was able to keep the city in the black,” he said of Mayor Parker. “She has given us a five-year contract which has kept police officers on the streets.”
However, AAPOL president Tracey Richardson believes that's not enough.
“She lost us a lot of jobs, lost a lot of companies, we're not getting any growth,” says Richardson. “I don't see what staying with Mayor Parker is going to do for the city, or police for that matter.”
“While HPOU is the largest organization, they don't speak for all police officers,” she says.
When asked whether AAPOL's decision was based on Mr. Hall being black, Richardson insisted that wasn't true.
“People who don't know, yes they might say that,” Richardson said. “The color of his skin has nothing to do with why we're endorsing him.”
This was Mayor Annise Parker 4 years ago:
Just yesterday, Houston Attorney Ben Hall kicked off his campaign:
