Portland's Sam Adams may win title that eluded Dallas' Ed Oakley

Ed Oakley would have been the first openly gay mayor to represent one of the nation’s “big” cities. Now it appears that title may go to Sam Adams (pictured above), a leading candidate to become the next mayor of Portland, Ore. The primary is May 20, and there are about 13 candidates in the race, but according to recent polls, Adams is the frontrunner.

Dallas is the ninth-largest city in the country, with a population of about 1.2 million. Portland is the 23rd-largest, with a population of about 600,000. The largest city to be represented by an openly gay mayor thus far is Providence, R.I., which has a population of about 175,000.

If Adams loses, the next best gay mayoral candidate could be Annise Parker of Houston, a lesbian former city councilwoman who’s currently the city’s comptroller. Parker has said she plans to run for mayor in 2009. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the U.S., with a population of more than 2 million.

For more info about Adams, go here.