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Rick Perry Ahead in Governor’s Race
Texas politics at its best. Texas has four people running for the governorship: Rick Perry (R) the incumbent, Chris Bell (D), Carole Keeton Strayhorn (Independent and former Republican), and Kinky Friedman (I). Pending any Perry snafus, this is one race that is all but in the bag despite Rasmussen’s opinion.
As support for Republican Governor Rick Perry continues to droop, Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn has again captured second place in the unusual four-way race for Texas Governor.
The latest Rasmussen Reports election poll in Texas finds that Likely Voters now allocate their support as follows: Governor Rick Perry 33%, Chris Bell (D) 18%, Carole Keeton Strayhorn (I) 22%, Kinky Friedman (I) 16%
Politics in Texas always tightens up towards the end. The incumbent will most likely win, but there is one caveat. This election is Perry’s to lose. Governor Mitt Romney talked about his own ‘tar baby’ in the big dig tunnel in Massachusetts. (For those upset by my ‘tar baby’ remark, please see this post) Governor Perry has his own tar baby in the I69 corridor which has led to many disaffected voters. The superhighway on the surface sounds like a good idea. It is supposed to link the main NAFTA countries of Canada, the United States, and Mexico providing an easy way of transporting goods and people, separating cars from big trucks. The reality is a little different. The superhighway is a tollway, has limited access, and is a quarter of a mile wide. In my home county of Grimes, the proposed route of the new road will split this narrow county in half. Many other counties are in much the same shape. The Governor’s bullheaded approach to the Trans-Texas Corridor has angered many voters.
Yet in spite of these problems, Rick Perry will most likely win another term as governor. Texas is a very conservative state. Chris Bell has no chance to win since he is a Democrat. Neither does Kinky Friedman. His ideas are just too strange. Strayhorn as a former Republican is splitting the Republican vote with Perry. Right now the only thing not known is who will capture second place.
Hat tip: The Hedgehog Report
Remembering Ann Richards
An icon of Texas politics died yesterday when Ann Richards lost her fight with esophageal cancer.
Former Gov. Ann Richards, who opened the doors of state government to women and minorities and won national celebrity with her lively humor and Texas twang, died Wednesday night at her home. She was 73.
She had battled esophageal cancer, which was diagnosed in March. Her four adult children spent the day with her, said Cathy Bonner, a longtime family friend and family spokeswoman.
Ann Richards was a short feisty woman and became everyone’s grandma. She was catapulted into the national spotlight when she gave the Poor George speech at the Democratic National Convention which nominated Bill Clinton as their party’s Presidential nominee. Richards rode the fame back to Texas when she won the governorship against Texas millionaire Clayton Williams. In truth, Richards won only because Williams snatched defeat from the mouth of victory when he compared bad weather to rape (the guy was a moron). In winning Ann Richards became the only woman since Ma Ferguson to win the governorship. In office her politics were more to the left of most Texans. Most of the people of Texas were like Ann Richards personally even though they disagreed with her views politically. People liked her feistiness.
Govornor Richards would encounter a bout of poetic justice when she eventually lost her seat to the son of the man she publicly skewered at the 1992 Democratic National Convention, George W. Bush. She was one of the few in Texas politics to follow the Democratic party’s turn to the left. Granted, it was not a sharp turn, but a turn nonetheless. But it still cost her the governor’s mansion.
Unfortunately Ann Richards will only be a footnote in the annals of history. She was a popular one term governor who reminded most who knew her as their favorite feisty Aunt or Grandma.
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