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Strayhorn continues to explore Democratic bid for comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who was twice elected comptroller as a Republican and then ran a losing gubernatorial campaign as an independent, called Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie on Tuesday to discuss seeking the party’s nomination for comptroller. Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirsten Gray confirmed the conversation, which Strayhorn initiated. We don’t know much about what was said. When I asked Gray whether the party would welcome Strayhorn as a candidate, she replied, “We will rely on our voters to consider each candidate’s record and decide if they have the Democratic credentials they...

One of the most recognizable grandmas in Austin appears to be running for mayor — again. Carole Keeton Strayhorn , Austin's mayor from 1977 to 1983, filed paperwork Wednesday appointing a campaign treasurer for a mayoral bid in May 2009. The filing with the city clerk's office allows Strayhorn to begin raising and spending money on a mayoral campaign, but it does not officially place her name on the ballot. It's the latest shuffle in what has been an already crowded field of potential candidates lining up to take Will Wynn's mayoral seat in 2009. Current Council Members Lee Leffingwell...

Deja vu?  Remember a few weeks ago when that McClellan story came out in which he supposedly said he was lied to about the Plame affair?  I wrote then: Isn't it curious how the left constantly wailed about Scott McClellan allegedly lying during his press conferences, but now that he is saying something that smells like trash talk about Bush, he is suddenly a truth teller. And now when a new NIE is released to the public saying that Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program, NOW the left believes our intelligence agencies.  For the last year the left has...

Rick Perry (R) 34% Carole Keeton Strayhorn (I) 21% Chris Bell (D) 19% Kinky Friedman (I) 18% 500 Likely Voters Survey conducted October 9th

Perry (R) 35% Friedman (I) 23% Bell (D) 23% Strayhorn (I) 15% 536 Likely voters, +/- 4.3% MOE

AUSTIN — Two polls released Monday found Gov. Rick Perry is vulnerable to defeat, but his campaign is questioning the surveys' accuracy. Conventional wisdom in the governor's race has been that none of the governor's four opponents would have a chance to beat him if he gets more than 35 percent of the vote on Nov. 7. There is no runoff in the general election, so the top vote-getter wins. Perry has hovered between 35 percent and 41 percent in public polls for months. But he has fallen into the defeatable zone in polls done by Rasmussen Reports and the...

AUSTIN — Two gubernatorial candidates received rare embraces from leaders of an organization that prides itself on its fierce nonpartisanship and rigid rules for politicians. Democrat Chris Bell got a warm embrace Saturday morning after pledging support for education and healthcare spending, training for livable wage jobs and comprehensive immigration reform all of which make up the "working families agenda" for the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation. Texas comptroller and independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn got a big hug on Friday from the Rev. John Bowie of True Light Baptist Church in Houston after Strayhorn offered passionate support for most...

DALLAS -- Legalizing casinos in Texas makes sense because residents already drive to nearby states or fly to Las Vegas to gamble, independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman said today. ADVERTISEMENT "This is common sense," said Friedman "It's crazy to have Louisiana gamblers mad at Oklahoma for taking away their Texans." Friedman, a musician, author and humorist, said he recently returned from a "fact-finding mission" in Las Vegas and estimated that half the people he met there were from Texas. Texans are also responsible, Friedman said, for transforming the regional gambling hot spot of Tunica, Miss., from the "poorest little town...

Strayhorn says her politics remain true But switching of parties, stands has critics calling her an opportunist By R.G. RATCLIFFE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN — Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, an independent candidate for governor, has politically reinvented herself time and again during the past three decades — repeatedly leading to questions of whether her actions are sincere or expedient. Strayhorn is a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent. She has given up three elected positions and one appointed state job to run for a higher office. And her positions on issues have transformed more than once. When she left the Democratic Party...

Aug. 20, 2006, 12:37AM Strayhorn says her politics remain true But switching of parties, stands has critics calling her an opportunist By R.G. RATCLIFFE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN — Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, an independent candidate for governor, has politically reinvented herself time and again during the past three decades — repeatedly leading to questions of whether her actions are sincere or expedient. Strayhorn is a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent. She has given up three elected positions and one appointed state job to run for a higher office. And her positions on issues have transformed more than once. When she...

AUSTIN — Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman on Thursday asked Travis County prosecutors to investigate Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn for possibly misusing state employees to help her campaign. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle responded by distributing to reporters his office's policy manual, which states that criminal complaints filed by one candidate against another will not be investigated until after the election. "It's typical mud-slinging politics. So much for Kinky not being a typical mud-slinging politician," said Strayhorn spokesman Mark Sanders. Friedman filed his complaint based on reports in the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News that Strayhorn's state...

Three months from the election, the twisty four-way race for Texas Governor continues to keep political junkies on the edge of their seats. Republican Governor Rick Perry's support has dropped by five percentage points since our July poll, as Democrat Chris Bell escapes last place to draw even with the two Independents in the race. So now it's Perry 35%, Bell 18%, Carole Keeton Strayhorn (I) 18%, Kinky Friedman (I) 18%. Texas law makes those numbers look even better to Perry. There's no general-election runoff in Texas; if a candidate wins only a plurality on Election Day, he gets the...

Republican Governor Rick Perry The latest Rasmussen Reports election survey shows incumbent Governor Rick Perry (R) maintaining his lead over three opponents seeking his job. Forty percent (40%) of the 500 Texas voters surveyed now choose Perry, a two-point jump from last month’s poll. Independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn, Texas’ current comptroller of public accounts, and musician Kinky Friedman continue their mid-pack battle. Last month, Friedman earned support from 20% of voters compared to Strayhorn’s 19%. They’ve swapped positions in the current survey with Strayhorn now coming in second to Perry at 20% and Friedman placing third at 19%. Strayhorn...

AUSTIN – Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is siding with a conservative group that is suing state leaders – including her – and accusing them of spending more taxpayer money than the state constitution allows. Mrs. Strayhorn, who is running against Gov. Rick Perry, is among the defendants listed in a lawsuit filed last month by Citizens for Lowering Our Unfair Taxes, a Houston-based group. Others include Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick. Mr. Perry is not named in the lawsuit. -SNIP- The comptroller agrees that "the voters meant something when they voted in 1979 to cap spending,"...

Gubernatorial candidate Bell pays visit to Hub City BY BETH AARON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Texas schools focus too much on standardized testing, and teacher salaries should be increased, gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell said. Speaking before members of the Texas Sheriff's Association on Monday, Bell, D-Houston, said the state needs to focus on reforming public education and health care and discussed why he supports stem cell research. "We do live in a big state with big dreams, but right now we face big challenges, he said from a podium in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center Theater. "It's about a new way versus an...

The contractors building the Trans-Texas Corridor – a massive statewide transportation network critics claim is an important part of the controversial proposed integration of the U.S. and Mexico – have made large contributions to the campaigns of Texas politicians, including Republican Gov. Rick Perry. As WND has reported, opposition is mounting to the little-publicized efforts by the Bush administration, aided by corporate and political elites of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, including the Council on Foreign Relations, to push North America into a European Union-style merger. Critics of the Trans-Texas Corridor see the massive project – ironically funded by Spain...

Recently the Trib showed a map of the proposed 640-mile-long Trans-Texas Corridor-35 and the initial 316-mile toll road-and-rail segment between San Antonio and Dallas. Notice the area through Williamson, Bell, Fall and McLennan counties, then deduce why TXU’s previous plans to build three coal-burning plants in Robertson and Milam counties were suddenly switched to McLennan County. You will see, raising its ugly head, a 10-mile-wide “blue line” east of and roughly parallel to our Interstate 35. This marks the path of the TTC-35 tollway with its proposed electric-powered bullet train. With 11 coal-burning plants planned in Texas, is corporate TXU...

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...

KSEV morning talk-show host and executive director of CLOUT: Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes has announced his intention to file a lawsuit designed to force state government to comply with strict spending limits written into the Texas State Constitution. Article 8, Section II of that fine document was approved by 84% of Texas voters in 1979, and reads as follows: In no biennium shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues not dedicated by this constitution exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy. Here’s the problem– the legislature hasn’t been doing this. Instead, they’ve...

AUSTIN - The state's biennial spending limit is an artificial gauge of the economy that allows unconstitutional and excessive spending on state agencies and programs, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a conservative taxpayer watchdog group. The constitution requires that the state budget not exceed economic growth. The Legislative Budget Board determines that limit before each regular legislative session, based on personal income of all Texans. The limit for the current budget was set at about $56 billion. But the group Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes is arguing that personal income gives an inflated measure of the economy and...