Strayhorn claims success nearly five times over Gubernatorial candidate submits nearly five times required voter signatures.
By W. Gardner Selby AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Wednesday, May 10, 2006 -- Carole Keeton Strayhorn on Tuesday delivered what she said were nearly five times the voter signatures required to place her on the fall ballot as an independent candidate for governor.
Her announcement meant nothing by itself since the state could take six weeks to certify the signatures and her candidacy. But Strayhorn, the state comptroller, waxed ebullient, telling supporters: "We have way jumped over the first hurdle."
Her tote: More than 223,000 signatures on petitions in 101 bumper sticker-slapped boxes. She promised more before Thursday's deadline for independent candidates, including musician and author Kinky Friedman, to submit petitions...... A Williams spokesman said the secretary will take five to six weeks to certify candidates if petitions are easy to compile for the vendor entering voter signatures into a database.
wgselby@statesman.com; 445-3644 more
101 boxes for Strayhorn
Houston ChronicleMay 9, 2006 -- Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn headed to the Texas Secretary of State's Office a little while ago with 101 half-empty boxes.
That may not matter much because she claimed they contained 223,000 signatures to get her on the ballot for governor. Independent candidates need 45,540 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
"We have blown the barn doors off this petition drive," Strayhorn said.
Dean Barkley, the campaign manager for independent candidate Kinky Friedman watched from the sidelines with a cigar in his smile.
"They definately have more boxes than we do," Barkley said..... more
Strayhorn submits petitions for ballot
Her fellow independent Friedman plans to turn in his at Thursday rally
By R.G. RATCLIFFE Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau May 10, 2006 AUSTIN - Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced Tuesday she gave Texas election officials 223,000 signatures to get her on the ballot for the governor's race — almost five times as many signatures as she needs to qualify.......
.....'Thanks, but no thanks'
Robert Black, a spokesman for Perry, dismissed Strayhorn's petition collection as a paltry 1.9 percent of the state's 12 million registered voters.
"Even with the help of three expensive signature-gathering organizations, paid petition-takers and more than four months to get her message out, 98 percent of eligible voters said, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' " Black said.
Perry won the Republican nomination in March with the backing of 4 percent of the state's registered voters.
Strayhorn aide Mark Sanders responded to Black by saying Strayhorn's petition drive is a "staggering" rejection of Perry's administration. "Almost a quarter of a million Texas voters are rejecting his failed leadership and his misplaced priorities," Sanders said.
Strayhorn noted that no independent has won the governor's office since Sam Houston in 1859. She said she believed she has six times the number of signatures as people who voted for Houston.
"This is a two-person race," said Strayhorn. "It is me, one tough grandma, or Rick Perry."
AFL-CIO endorses Bell ---- Democratic nominee Chris Bell, meanwhile, won the endorsement of the traditionally Democratic AFL-CIO. The organization provides important financial and grass-roots support in general elections. Both Friedman and Strayhorn courted the group's endorsement during a convention in Dallas this week.
"To win, Democrats have to stick together, and that is why today's backing from the AFL-CIO was so vital," Bell said.
"Carole Strayhorn has courted labor for more than a year and she came here trying to divide us, but she failed," he said. "What this endorsement shows is why she can't win. Democrats won't support a Republican."
Libertarian James Werner will also be on the ballot. The Green Party also is gathering signatures to gain ballot access.
r.g.ratcliffe@chron.com more
Texas AFL-CIO votes to endorse Democrat Bell
05/09/2006 Associated Press Dallas Morning News -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell was endorsed Tuesday by the Texas AFL-CIO.
Delegates of the 220,000-member labor group voted the day after hearing speeches and asking questions of Bell and independent candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman. Republican Gov. Rick Perry declined to address the group, which traditionally endorses Democrats. .... "We have been accused in the past of being an arm of the Democratic Party," Sills said. "But this shows that it is not automatic who we choose. The candidate has to earn it." more
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