AUSTIN - Independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn sued the Texas secretary of state Friday, claiming he is raising obstacles to keep her off the ballot in her bid to unseat Gov. Rick Perry. Strayhorn campaign manager Brad McClellan said Secretary of State Roger Williams, a Perry appointee, changed the methods of verifying candidate petitions this year specifically to make it more difficult for Strayhorn to get on the ballot and to benefit Perry.
In Texas when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet…and woe betide those who break the covenant and work against the interests of the dominant clan, what we in Texas refer to as “Republicans”. Political opportunist Independent candidate for Governor Carole Keeton Strayhorn, formerly one of the most nimbly partisan Jets Republicans in state government, is finding out just how tough things can be when you tug on Superman’s Governor Goodhair’s cape. The candidate, who in her spare time doubles as Texas Comptroller, is discovering that running as an independent against a sitting Republican governor is not an easy proposition, especially when said Republican Governor gets to pick those (in this case, Secretary of State Roger WIlliams) who interpets the rules governing state election campaigns.
My question to “One Tough Grandma” is simple: How’s that spitting into the political wind thing working out for you? Not so well thus far? I could have told you as much (not that a lifelong Republican would deign to accept advice from a Liberal Democrat blogger and [even worse] a Yankee transplant)…and just think, it’s only March. Election Day is still more then seven months away. Just wait until the campaign season REALLY gets wound up, eh??
“This guy has gone overboard in throwing up partisan roadblocks,” said McClellen, who also is Strayhorn’s son. “There is no question he is doing everything in their (Perry’s) favor.”
Williams is trying to protect the integrity of the general election, said his spokesman, Scott Haywood.
“As the state’s chief elections officer, Secretary Williams will continue to apply Texas law to all candidates in an even manner, and will not grant special treatment to any candidate,” Haywood said in response to the Strayhorn lawsuit, filed in federal court.
Texas Comptroller Strayhorn and satirist Kinky Friedman each need to gather 45,540 valid Texas voter signatures by May 11 to get on the ballot in November as independent candidates for governor.
Williams has said he will not begin verifying the petitions until after the May 11 deadline passes.
Williams also has said he will have his staff manually verify each signature instead of using a statistical analysis as has been done in the past. That verification process could take two months and might not be done until just before he must certify the November ballot on Sept. 13.
McClellan invited Friedman’s campaign to join the lawsuit.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or an Aggie) to figure out what the bottom line is here, does it? At first glance, it’s clear that all Williams really wants to do is to ensure that the signatures are valid. Of course, anyone with half a brain and even less political common sense will recognize that the longer Williams manages to drag out this process, the less of a threat Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman will pose to his boss.
No, Williams will insist, this is not about squeezing out independent candidates. It’s all about ensuring the integrity of the system. And when you finish cleaning up the coffee you just spewed all over your monitor, perhaps you’ll stop laughing long enough to recognize just what a nakedly political strategy this is. Surely, neither Williams nor his boss, the nefarious (and virtually invisible) Governor Goodhair Rick Perry, the Pride of Paint Creek, would EVER want to undermine the will of the people of this Great State of Texas. Yeah, right….
Strap yourself in, y’all. A gubernatorial race that had Sominex bidding for the sponsorship rights may actually be on the verge of becoming something resembling interesting. Whodathunkit??
