Free Republic

AUSTIN — Entertainer Kinky Friedman and state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the two independent candidates for governor were certified for the November ballot Thursday by Secretary of State Roger Williams. ``Texas has a process for verifying the eligibility of independent candidates for a place on the ballot and today we have finished that process,” Williams said. ``Our method of verifying every signature is the most accurate, has been upheld by the courts and was done faster than in years past.” Williams notified the two campaigns Thursday afternoon that they had met the requirements for ballot access. Both candidates exceeded the...

AUSTIN — Speculation mounted Friday that Republican Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn will abandon her party primary and try to challenge Gov. Rick Perry as an independent candidate. "This isn’t just bar talk anymore," said Harvey Kronberg, editor of the political newsletter Quorum Report. "This is ratcheting up almost to conventional wisdom that she is going to run as an independent candidate." The Strayhorn for Governor campaign would not confirm or deny the speculation, but aides said she will announce her intentions Monday - the last day to file for state political office ahead of the 2006 elections. Strayhorn spokesman Mark...

This week, as Texas Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn turned up the heat on Governor Rick Perry, it would appear that she has found herself in some hot water as well. Following a scathing swath of Strayhorn radio commercials about Governor Perry, the Texas State Auditor’s Office released a rather scathing report of its own about Strayhorn. Despite the agency’s perfunctory statement that they “are not implying any wrongdoing on the part of any individual or group associated with the information in this report,” political hounds from Beaumont to El Paso admit it smells like a scandal—and Strayhorn’s...

But Strayhorn does better on job performance "Texas Republican primary voters would support incumbent Governor Rick Perry over State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn by a two-to-one margin, according to a recent poll. "Since the summer of 2001, Montgomery and Associates, an independent research firm based in Austin, Texas, has been running surveys tracking statewide political issues and elected officials. This survey was conducted from June 27 – July 1, 2005 and tested 905 Texans who had voted in at least one out of the past two Republican primaries. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.3%. Montgomery & Associates...

Strayhorn announces candidacy for governor 06/18/2005 By NATALIE GOTT / Associated Press Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the fast-talking state comptroller who makes sport of chastising Republican Gov. Rick Perry, said Saturday she would challenge the governor in next year's GOP primary. "Now is time to replace this do-nothin' drugstore cowboy with one tough grandma," Strayhorn, 65, told hundreds of cheering supporters at a block party near the state Capitol. Strayhorn's announcement came shortly after Perry vetoed education funding from the state budget bill, and called lawmakers back to Austin for a special session on school finance. She took the opportunity to...

Another day, another squabble as Perry-Strayhorn fight continues. By Ken Herman and Michelle M. Martinez AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, April 22, 2004 Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, dabbling in subject matter a tad sexier than the usual daily number crunching, said Wednesday that the state should shut down all topless bars by prohibiting them from selling alcoholic drinks. The proposal is the latest in what have become daily Strayhorn attacks on Gov. Rick Perry's proposed school finance package. The Perry plan, aimed at drumming up more money for public schools while reducing property taxes, includes a proposed $5 admission surcharge at...

AUSTIN — Increasing criticism of Gov. Rick Perry by Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn has cost her a longtime campaign treasurer. Houston oil and gas operator George Strake Jr., the comptroller's chief fund-raiser for 20 years, said in an interview Thursday he could "no longer stomach" Strayhorn's strategy of attacking Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and other GOP leaders. Although she denies it, political insiders say Strayhorn has been positioning herself to either take on Perry in 2006 or maneuver toward another position, like lieutenant governor, should U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison challenge Perry and Dewhurst seek Hutchison's senate seat. "It's...

Says children will pay for it 'for the rest of their lives' AUSTIN -- Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn on Monday delivered a scathing review of Gov. Rick Perry's school finance proposal, saying it would create a $10 billion deficit within five years and provide little property tax relief. Just one day before lawmakers convene a 30-day special session on school finance, Strayhorn likened the governor's plan to a "balloon payment" that Texas children "will be paying for the rest of their lives." "This governor's plan replaces Robin Hood with Robbin' Everybody," Strayhorn said in probably her most pointed attack on...