Kim Devlin, a senior adviser for Gene Locke's campaign, says the candidate is "thrilled" that he is -- so far -- leading the other three major candidates in the early vote. The first round of results put him up by just 0.03% of the vote over Annise Parker, but the second round (which included results from the part of Houston that lies in Fort Bend County) gave him a lead of more than 500 votes.

That's not many, but it signals a real lift for Locke, who many pundits expected to finish in second or third place. Few predicted he would be the leading candidate heading into the runoff, but light turnout in more conservative parts of town may have hurt Peter Brown and helped candidates Locke and Parker.

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The word from Annise Parker's camp" "We're feeling it.'

For the last few days now, campaign officials say they've picked up some momentum and they've peaked at the right time.

Parker is expected to arrive at the Hilton Americas in downtown Houston around 8pm for her election night watch party. She says she is feeling confident and describes the next few hours as a time of calm anticipation.

Her campaign is not going to put a lot of emphasis on the early voting results. Her people believe Peter Brown had the most momentum during the early voting period. Parker's camp says she didn't peak until just recently.

Parker realizes that it will be difficult for any candidate to get 51% of the vote tonight. She is prepared to get to work tomorrow as she gets ready for a run-off election in December.

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Former city attorney Gene Locke tells 11 News he is "in the game to win" as he waits for election night results to roll in. Locke will track the results from a room at the Hyatt hotel in downtown houston. His campaign staff has arrived (as has the food: cheeses, carrots, celery, dip and chips) and they have already completely rebuilt the backdrop for Locke's eventual speech. What started as a podium on a level riser with orange and blue balloons behind him has transformed into a two-level stage with an enormous "Gene Locke for Mayor" banner in the background.

A campaign volunteer said they made the change because a banner looks better than balloons. And it's probably true. The balloons are now spread throughout the spacious ballroom that the campaign has rented for the evening.

There is also iced tea, lemonade, and a cash bar. I haven't asked specifically why there is a cash bar, but I can probably safely assume it's because no campaign wants to spend thousands of dollars on alcohol when they are trying to conserve cash for a runoff.

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The Houston mayoral race is beginning to heat up as the four main candidates start their campaigns.

Tell us what you think about the issues and the candidates.

Who do you think will be Houston's next mayor?

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