(Geraldine is shown in red on the left.)
Posted on 05/09/2009 11:45:28 PM PDT by anymouse
Saturday, for the first time in the history of Galveston County, an African-American woman was elected mayor.
Geraldine Sam, 57, a lifelong resident of La Marque and an educator, edged two challengers to take her place in history by the narrowest of margins.
“I cannot even describe how I feel,” Sam said, while celebrating with family and friends at a restaurant. “I was trying to eat earlier, and I can’t even eat. It’s amazing. Just awesome.”
Sam received 355 votes, outlasting challengers James Osteen, 316 votes, and Bill Charbonneau, 289 votes, according to complete, unofficial results.
Sam, who will serve a three-year term, didn’t receive a majority of votes in the three-way race, but in La Marque there will be no run off. By the city’s charter, the candidate with the most votes is elected.
Osteen congratulated Sam on her historic victory.
“I appreciate the fact that everybody ran a clean race, not like some other cities,” Osteen said.
“I wish her the best. She cares about this city like the rest of us. I think she’ll do a good job.”
A message left for Charbonneau wasn’t returned.
Sam, who has taught school for 24 years and instructs first-grade students at Sims Elementary School, said she wouldn’t be retiring and has the blessing of school Superintendent Ecomet Burley.
“He congratulated me, and the school board congratulated me,” Sam said.
“I have the blessing of the superintendent that if there are any meetings, I’ll be able to attend. And then I’m off during summertime. That’s not going to be a problem at all.”
Beverly Mitchell, one of Sam’s campaign managers, spent Saturday evening savoring the moment.
“We had (President Barack) Obama, and now we have Sam,” Mitchell said. “Geraldine is a visionary. She has been a fighter for our community for many years.”
Sam said her first order of business would be seeking community input about crime reduction, affordable housing and economic development.
“First I’ll have to take a nap, then at Monday’s city council meeting, we’re going to start there, working with the citizens, listening to them more,” Sam said. “They know more what the city needs.”
Leon Evans Sr. became the county’s first African-American mayor in Hitchcock in the late 1990s.
(Geraldine is shown in red on the left.)
Galveston County Republican victory ping.
> Beverly Mitchell, one of Sam’s campaign managers, spent Saturday evening savoring the moment.
“We had (President Barack) Obama, and now we have Sam,” Mitchell said.<
Well good for Mrs. Sam. Congrats. Now IMHO, no level-headed/sane Republican would use a Dem president as a yardstick for winning. Unless...
For those of us outside Galveston County and outside this state, is she a Republican? Or another RINO?
Not meaning to be critical, but as we have seen, many claim to be Republican and are more liberal than anything else.
Regardless, congratulations on winning the election.
The fact that she even use the phrase “affordable housing” is cause for concern.
If you want to see Professor Thomas Sowell spit nails, just use that phrase around him...
What’s her Reverends’ name?
Sorry, the word Republican just doesn’t finish the deal for me anymore.... I need much much more.
Powell is black, Powell claims to be a Republican.... about 4 years ago, Powell could have won in a Republican race.
After Obama, the test has become far more difficult for any black candidate.
Good for her, it is however disconcerting that BHO’s name was invoked. Does it mean we must keep an eye upon her?
Methinks we should keep an eye on everybody.
Prediction: Rhino
Not based upon race or gender, but strictly upon her claim of “affordable housing”.
We’ll see.
She says she wants to hear from the “community” about it. What does that “community” tend to think? Do they want special low priced areas?
As long as someone else is paying for it, they will go first class all the way.
That was not part of the Change we were Hoping for...
La Marque was a little train stop that became a suburb of Galveston in the 50s. Nice homes, good local school.
And, no, “affordable housing” was why they didn’t want to live in Galveston.
Oh, well, time to move the suburbs out a bit further...
I lived in LaMarque as a little girl in the 50s..my father was one of the few Rs around back then....very few...
I recall only meeting her one time, and that was a while back...I do not know that much about her...
GB, you’ve been awfully quiet...But I know why you are busy this morning...;-)
City elections in Texas are theoretically non-partisan. I’m sure Geraldine Sam recruited both Republican and Democrat campaign workers, especially given the demographics of La Marque being skewed towards lower income blacks, who usually vote Democrat. Not surprising that they identify with Obama.
Not everyone lives in bright red Republican country. Considering the high percentage of Democrats in La Marque, Geraldine’s victory is a miracle*.
* Geraldine has been a long time Republican precinct chair, election judge covering at least 4 precincts, and a delegate to the county, Texas state and the national Republican conventions.
She has ensured the Galveston County Republican Party’a involvement in the local Junteenth celebrations for decades. This being significant, because it was in Galveston where word came to Texas slaves of their emancipation by President Lincoln, thus the reason for the Junteenth celebration.
She might not be Republican enough for some, but she has been the face of the Republican party in a very blue part of Texas for a long time. I cut her a lot of slack for towing every plank in the GOP platform, though she is very solid on the important ones.
Note carefully that you're quoting one of her campaign workers here, not Miz Sams herself.
Makes a big difference; a mayoral candidate can easily have Dimocrat friends, neighbors, and campaign workers without being a Dim herself.
Gee — a new variant on “Name That Party.”
If it’s bad news you know it’s a Democrat when they leave the party name off.
If it’s good news you know it’s a Republican if they leave the party name off.
She is a conservative as far as I know, it’s because of her the affirmative action plank failed to make it into the Texas Republican party platform...although I don’t think she did that on purpose. Maybe shoulda learned Roberts Rules instead of clicking that mop back Ms. Sam.
GIVING HONOR TO CONDOLEEZMA RICE!!! ROFLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!
For the record, I know Geraldine very well. I have walked blocks for her in failed campaigns in the past. She is no solid conservative but she has suffered a lot of mistreatment by other blacks for being Republican and more conservative than what is ‘allowed’.
I read what the article said about Geraldine and affordable housing. She said that she wanted to hear what THE PUBLIC had to say about affordable housing. LaMarque actually has been trying to carefully regulate against an influx of units lately.
I would wait and see what she does before labeling here a RINObased on what the paper said. If it is name only, she sure has paid one HELL of a price to carry the name. I’ll tell you that nuch.
“City elections in Texas are theoretically non-partisan. I’m sure Geraldine Sam recruited both Republican and Democrat campaign workers, especially given the demographics of La Marque being skewed towards lower income blacks, who usually vote Democrat. Not surprising that they identify with Obama.”
That makes it all the better. This is how we make inroads in traditionally Democrat areas.
Ditto! Congratulations to Geraldine, one of our fellow Galveston County Republicans, on her victory.
Everybody in Galveston County knows Roberts Rules it is the birthplace of the great document!
Thanks very much for your report.
Did you go to Highlands Elementary?
Yes! I did! Oh wow. I was there 1-5th grade. Then we moved out of state. We lived on Oaklawn, then Bowie.
My parents' insurance agent was Kay Bailey Hutchison's father
I remember, Ms..
Shrader, Sharp, Fenton?
dunno if that was at the same time.
I'll have to go to my old scrapbook to look up the dates and verify the names!
We also went the the Presbyterian church not far from the school. I remember loving to ride my bike around there...
When we lived on Oaklawn, I had to walk down the street, then cut n. along a bayou to get into the back of the school property. That was so exciting! LOL
I'll send you a FRmail later following my trip into my old scrapbook...Are we contemporaries, you think??
We could be. I went to first grade in 55-56. We moved away after fourth in ‘59.
Miss Sharp had long and sharp fingernails which she’d use on arms for discipline.
I never can remember my third grade teacher; Hext sounds familiar.
Only kids names I remember are Bonnie Lou Baker and Dickie Osborn.
The Church I mentioned was on Lake, & n. of there was a little shopping area I used to bike to when we moved to Bowie.
Have you ever been back? My father continued to make business trips down there. I finally made it back in 2002.
After the oil co. moved a bunch of folks n., and then the Space Center opened...well it was never the same.
But I consider it my first and real hometown even now after all those years.
We used to do a lot of shopping in Galveston, of course, and Texas City. Sometimes in Houston. I remember Hobby airport well.
It was my second hometown (Galveston), but my happiest youth.
Amazing: sounds like we were in second grade together. I was one of the barefoot boys that Mrs. Sharp used to pinch for stepping off the sidewalk during fire drill.
We were Lutherans, St. Paul’s Union I think, ( PU on our baseball caps). Lived on the other side of the Gulf freeway and then on West Crocket.
I went through there in the 70s, but not since then. I have looked at the Google street view, and don’t recognize anything, not even the school.
I tried to find where the drug store and hardware store (Plantowsky’s ?) were, on Lake somewhere, but couldn’t.
LaMarque only had several thousand people back then, quite a coincidence!
Do you remember the principal, Alva Williams? He once came into one of my classes, and came to my desk with a note. Boy was I scared, but it was for my father: Williams needed my father to arrange for the school to get a photograph of Pres. Eisenhower...my father was President of the PTA at the time, but it may also have had something to do with my father's R connections.
That drive into Galveston! Remember how the causeway bridge would have to be raised, just as you got to it, for a tall boat to go thru?
Very frustrating for an impatient little girl in a hot car!
My father once to a party of my friends and I into Galveston on the train. That was fun...
Well, this is just too funny, and here we've both been around FR a long time...
I think it was Mrs. Sharp...she was a widow, I think, with a little boy. You were a fidgety boy!
La Marque is shrunken, that's for sure...hard hit by declines in the oil industry...but all the oak trees that were so new in 1955, are now huge - overhanging Oaklawn from either side of the street.
One more thing...
Remember our school: it had its own cafeteria, gym, AND Auditorium?
When we moved n. the classes ate in their rooms, or the hallways, and the auditorium Was the gym...And this was a well-to-do suburb of Chicago...and there were no Black students, while of course Highlands had no black students...But in Texas, I definitely had more contact with Blacks, 'cause my parents had a woman do our ironing, and she was so loving, and a yardman...funny how it's different from what an outsider might think.
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