Posted on 12/26/2005 5:32:20 AM PST by Theodore R.
Texas governor's race shaping up to be big show next year
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN (AP) - For the first time since Republicans claimed all statewide offices in 1998, the party faces the possibility of a big-name GOP primary showdown next year.
The March 7 primary for Texas governor will likely pit Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a self-described "tough grandma," against her longtime foil and incumbent Rick Perry.
"I've never been the darling of the insiders. I run with the people," Strayhorn said. "Right after the new year, buckle your seat belt and hang on."
This month Strayhorn denied speculation she might consider a run as an independent, potentially postponing a contest with Perry until the November general election. She hasn't officially filed her candidacy papers yet, but she's expected to make the Jan. 2 deadline.
Perry, meanwhile, said he's only talking about his own Republican campaign.
"I know which party I'm for and which party I'm going to run. I made that decision a decade ago. I've got other very important things to spend my time on," said Perry, who switched from the Democratic Party before his run for agriculture commissioner in 1990.
If elected to another four-year term, Perry could hold the governor's office for 10 years, making him the longest-serving governor in Texas history. He was lieutenant governor under then-Gov. George W. Bush and assumed the state's top job when Bush was elected president in 2000. Two years later, Perry was elected to his first full term as governor.
Among Democrats, who admittedly are in a rebuilding period, former Houston congressman Chris Bell and former Texas Supreme Court justice Bob Gammage will challenge each other for their party's gubernatorial nomination.
The race's wild card is musician and author Kinky Friedman, who wants to get on the ballot as an independent. He'll have to gather 45,540 signatures from registered voters after the primary, but as a sign of confidence he's hired campaign manager Dean Barkley, who helped engineer the surprise victory by former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura for governor of Minnesota.
"There will be a whole new spirit blowing through Texas," Friedman said of his candidacy earlier this month. "There will be a smile on everybody's face and a chill up the spine of every politician."
The Republican race for governor narrowed in June when Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison decided to run for re-election rather than challenge Perry. The governor had warned a primary contest would be a "bloody" and "brutal" affair.
"Perry has shown that he gives no quarter in political races. None should be expected," said consultant Bill Miller, whose company's political committee has donated to Perry's campaign.
Miller predicted a hard-hitting contest if Strayhorn makes good on her promise to run. "They're both going to go for the jugular," he said.
Both camps began shooting insults at each other early in the year. Strayhorn called Perry a "do-nothin' drugstore cowboy" who hasn't shown leadership on children's issues or school property tax relief. Perry's campaign questioned Strayhorn's ethics and accused her of using her state office for political gain.
Perry and Strayhorn are also veteran campaigners. Perry has never lost a race. Strayhorn lost a run for Congress in 1986 after she switched to the GOP from the Democratic Party, and she lost a race for Railroad Commission in 1992. But she was later elected to the commission, then went on to become Texas' first woman comptroller. She was known at the time by the last name Rylander, before she remarried.
Perry's aides portray him as the real conservative. They cast Strayhorn as a pseudo-Republican whose support comes from Democrats and trial lawyers.
"I think the primary voters will see right through that," Perry spokesman Robert Black said. "Republican primary voters need to know if trial lawyers have picked a candidate in the Republican primary and who that candidate is."
Strayhorn's camp says it wants to attract more than the usual 600,000 people who typically vote in a Texas Republican primary.
"Our game plan is to turn the Republican primary in 2006 into the general election," said Mark Sanders, Strayhorn's spokesman. "We want everyone who wants to have a say in the future of this state. In order to do that, they need to vote in the March Republican primary."
As 2005 ended, Strayhorn and Perry were busy collecting campaign cash. At the end of the latest campaign reporting period, June 30, Perry had $8.8 million in cash on hand, and Strayhorn had $7 million.
They won't have to report their contributions for the second half of the year until mid-January, but each undoubtedly added millions more dollars.
It's widely believed Perry would outspend Strayhorn, who said she plans to counter Perry's power by debating key issues and bringing together supporters of all political stripes.
"I am looking forward to the challenge," she said.
I got it wrong. It was the first George Bush who supposedly reminded women of their "bumbling" first husbands, and it was "debonair" Michael Stanley Dukakis who was like their second husbands.
Texan's pay plenty of taxes for new roads and road maint, it's just not being used for same, the RINO's have moved it over to welfare.
Don't take my word for it but you will have to check the actual 600+ page appropriations bill because at the same time they started the transfer they changed the way the summary budget is categorized and effectively hid the shift.
But even if there wasn't available money privatization of new roadways would be fine by me but Perry cut a deal; he got support for his trans-Texas boondoggle by giving local transportation districts the ability to start charging tolls on roads that have already been built with our tax money.
Perhaps the problem is that many Texans should stop getting their information about "no road money" from the Chronicle, Morning News or the Statesman and start studying the actual legislative documents. They might just find that the Texas LSM is either lying (gasp, could it be!!!?) or they just parrot what they're told being too lazy to do a little homework to find the truth.
I concede that "TX governor" is a nice piece of resume eye candy.
A certain person with the initials G.W.B. used it quite productively ;-)
You do better in this than in arguing theology, but you're still off base in your defense of Perry.
No there isn't. Even when the sizable amount of gas tax money that is redirected away from transportation is added back in, it falls far short of what is needed for future projects. Plus even mild inflation has reduced the gas tax in relation to the cost of projects.
But even if there wasn't available money privatization of new roadways would be fine by me but Perry cut a deal; he got support for his trans-Texas boondoggle by giving local transportation districts the ability to start charging tolls on roads that have already been built with our tax money.
False. They can only toll new projects or EXPANSIONS of existing roads. So if there is an existing free road, it can have toll mainlanes added in the middle but there must be a continued parallel free portion. How about citing a specific example of where you think "an already paid for" road is going to be tolled? AFAIK, there was just one proposal for such, a bridge on the Loop 1 expansion south of Austin, but it was quickly shot down, Perry stepped in and specifically said that was not the intent, and the legislature added language this last session preventing such.
Perhaps the problem is that many Texans should stop getting their information about "no road money" from the Chronicle, Morning News or the Statesman and start studying the actual legislative documents. They might just find that the Texas LSM is either lying (gasp, could it be!!!?) or they just parrot what they're told being too lazy to do a little homework to find the truth.
I've actually researched the topic extensively, but nice try.
This is the conversion of existing state roads, paid for by all Texans, given to local "authorities" to convert to toll roads. It hasn't been shut down, the lege didn't add any language to do so and it's quid pro quo for the Trans-Texas boondoggle along with Perry throwing in bones for their precious mass transit projects. (You are new to Texas politics I see).
But hey, if you think this state spends it's money wisely and there's no other alternative but to build toll roads then by all means think that, it'd be a first for goobermint, but it ain't got no basis in reality; state road tax money, which has gone up in the last six years, has gone to H&HS rather than to roads.. Please show me the line items in the state budget that disputes that.
Every single one of those projects is a new road or an expansion. Not a single existing lane will be converted to tolls. So your statement is false, no 'bought and paid for roads' are being 'given' to local authorities to 'covert' to toll roads. Now some planned roads are having their mainlanes built as tollways instead of free lanes, but the reason is to speed up construction. The money wasn't there for completion as free roads, and thus those mainlanes wouldn't have been built in most cases for another 10-20 years. By turning to toll financing many of those projects will be finished in the next 1-5 years.
Sorry Dane, but I'm absolutely a social conservative and have voted for Perry every time he's run.
I won't make that mistake again.
The toll portion will be the highway that's under construction. The non-toll portion will be the existing frontage road.
But if you think that the state of Texas runs things so well and is still so short of funds that there's no other alternative other than to implement new taxes then by all means, you've reached a space that I haven't obtained yet.
Virtually all of those projects on your Austin map would not yet be underway (other than some frontage roads) if they had not been converted to toll financing. That didn't just happen yesterday. There wasn't enough funding for 130,45, the 183 bypasses, and the Loop 1 extensions (and I'm almost certain for 71, too), they only moved forward once they were converted to partial toll projects, because only then they could borrow against future toll revenues. Without tolls, the construction you see would not be taking place.
The corridor was put to the citizens in the form of a constitutional amendment and it passed overwhelmingly.
Transportation is our state's economic lifeblood. If we can't move people and goods quickly and efficiently, then we wiill lose our advantage as a state.
I'm all for the corridor and especially like that it's being paid for by user fees, and not my tax dollars. That is the true fiscally conservative way to go.
Perry got us 5 more Republicans in Congress because he stood up to the Democrats on redistricting.
Perry fought for and got the best package of tort reform in this country.
Perry worked to balance our state budget when TX was $10 billion in deficit with no tax increase. He cut spending more than in any other time in TX history.
He's used his veto pen and exercised mroe line-item vetos than any other governor.
He's probably the most socially conservative governor we've ever had.
I couldd go on and on.
He's without a doubt the most conservative governor in the country.
If there's one thing grandma's performance in office is shown is that she can't count. Has she ever gotten a revenue estimate right???? In 2003, she was off by 100%!!!!!!!!!! Now there are reports that there $3 billion in taxes she has failed to collect. Maybe if she would do her job and not spend so much time trying to do everyone else's she wouldn't have to be talking about raising taxes to fund her new entitlement programs.
Perry's not great, but he's got name recognition, and hasn't teed anyone off, lately. As to Willie Nelson having political clout, nah. He can't even get a candidate elected in Austin, where he's considered by the local media to be on a first name basis with God.
I agree with that, but politics is all "show biz" now, and she is trying to make people think she is special.
"The corridor was put to the citizens in the form of a constitutional amendment and it passed overwhelmingly. "
No.
Some aspects of the corridor plan were included in the last election, but no way has the whole concept been put before the electorate, and the Corridor itself wasn't even mentioned.
Texans in general simply do not know about the TTC, and those I've told are appalled. I guess that speaks badly of Texans' knowledge of what affects them.
The "overwhelming" margin you refer to was a majority of those who bothered to vote, most of whom voted because of the gay marriage amendment and just rubber-stamped the rest of the ballot.
Texans don't know what Perry has planned for them.
Concur
Kinky is entertaining, and I would love t get drunk in a bar and say outrageous things with him, but sure wouldn't want him running tax or any other policy.
Strayhorn, or whatever her name is this week, is actually more dangerous than Kinky, because she takes herself seriously
Perry's forcing toll roads down our throats is mostly why I don't want to vote for him. The cost will not be "shifted to private investors." Regular people who drive will be paying for the highways till the end of time. It's a big racket and a theft of what should be freely traveled highways that everyone owns, not some private firms who will suck blood out of us forever just to drive the stupid highways.
Great point -- what's going to happen on US281 here in San Antonio?
I'll tell ya!
We're getting a toll road! This "toll road" has already been paid for (as has the interchange the tolls will fund at Loop 1604 and 281). Thanks, Rick. How much money are we spending to deal with your administration's incompetence?
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