Strayhorn not on guest list for state GOP fund-raiser
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
Posted on 01/19/2005 12:56:25 PM PST by Constitutionalist Conservative
AUSTIN - Her name missing from an invitation letter to an upcoming Texas Republican Party fund-raiser, state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn cried foul Tuesday and blamed the perceived snub on Gov. Rick Perry.
Spokespersons for Perry and the party dodged responsibility for the omission, the latest flap to erupt between the governor and the comptroller, who is eyeing a challenge to Perry in next year's Republican primary.
The event, which will benefit the state party, is scheduled for Feb. 22 in Austin. With ticket prices ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, it is being billed as a tribute to Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick.
An invitation letter mailed this week was signed by all other elected statewide officials except Strayhorn, members of the judiciary and the two U.S. senators from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. Hutchison also is considering a race against Perry.
"The governor is doing the party a disservice by excluding the top vote-getter in the state last time (the 2002 election) and one tough grandma who has proved herself to be one phenomenal fund-raiser," Sanders said. "His fear of her presence is a truly self-absorbed disservice to the electorate."
Luis Saenz, director of Perry's political committee, said the event was the Republican Party's business.
"The Republican Party of Texas knows best how to raise money from true Republicans," he said.
"Our fund-raising team has a variety of strategies when they send out these letters," she said.
Susan Lilly, the fund-raising professional handling the event, was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Lilly also has raised funds for Texans for a Republican Majority, or TRMPAC, a political action committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land. TRMPAC has been part of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's investigation of fund-raising activities in 2002 legislative races.
Dave Beckwith, a spokesman for Hutchison, declined to comment on the invitation. He said organizers may have chosen to exclude the U.S. senators because they are federal officeholders.
State law prohibits officeholders from holding fund-raisers while the Legislature is in session. The restriction, however, doesn't apply to political parties.
Perry announced last week that he has nearly $8 million in his campaign account, and Strayhorn reported $5.7 million as of Dec. 31.
The governor's biggest contributor during the last six months of 2004 was Houston home-builder Bob Perry, who gave $250,000. The home builder, who is not related to the governor, has been a major donor to Rick Perry for several years.
Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, gave Strayhorn $17,500.
Hutchison has $6.7 million in political funds that, under a new federal law, she can use to run for governor, Beckwith said.
The six state officials who signed the invitation — Attorney General Greg Abbott, Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Railroad Commissioners Victor Carrillo, Michael Williams and Charles Matthews — recently joinedDewhurst in an endorsement of Perry's re-election.
Matthews is leaving the Railroad Commission to become chancellor of the Texas State University System.
Chronicle reporter Janet Elliott contributed to this report.
HMMMMMMMM......
And does anyone know if Mark Sandres (her spokesman) was the same MS who served on the SREC in the 80s?
The Democrats are lining up behind Carole Rylander Keeton Strayhorn. Will she switch parties or stick to her primary challenge, or team up with Kay Bailey Hutchison?
**snicker!**:^D
Arrggg. I hope all this infighting doesn't lead to the Dems taking the Texas Governor's mansion. I know it's a longshot, but still...
I still don't get why Perry doesn't just let the Comptroller and Huchison battle it out for the Governor's seat, and just run for Huchison's Senate seat.
Strayhorn not on guest list for state GOP fund-raiser
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Texas ping list!. . .don't be shy.
No, you don't HAVE to be a Texan to get on this list!
Not quite correct.
I think you got the names out of order, and I know you left out at least one.
Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Strayhorn.
This is all we need to know about "Republican" Strayhorn.
"Strayhorn received $50,000 from Walter Umphrey of Beaumont and $50,000 from John Eddie Williams of Houston. They were two of five plaintiffs' lawyers, hired by former Attorney General Dan Morales, who shared $3.3 billion in legal fees from Texas' multibillion-dollar settlement with the tobacco industry in 1998. Normally, they give to Democratic candidates.
Former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, gave Strayhorn $17,500."
She'll do whatever the polling indicates. If she thinks she can beat Perry in the primary, she'll stay a nominal Republican, but she's been talking like a liberal Democrat for the past couple of years.
Like many Texas Republicans, Strayhorn didn't convert to the Republican Party until the party became competitive in Texas. But she's still a Rat at heart.
...GOP stuf from Texas.
Like many Texas Republicans, Strayhorn didn't convert to the Republican Party until the party became competitive in Texas.
That's also true of Perry.
Hoping for a better candidate, but few wish to challenge a sitting governor, and in Texas, statewide recognition is pretty much impossible without holding a statewide office.
She was elected as the Democrat mayor of that town.
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