The Grand Old Party nearly swept the statewide race yesterday, led by Governor Rick Perry, who after beating Democratic nominee Chris Bell and independent candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn may very well become the longest-serving Governor in Texas. In a press conference this morning, Perry was vague when addressing rumors of a possible vice presidential bid, merely saying it was "up to the good Lord." Bell, who posted yesterday in his blog......

The director of Woodside Trails Therapeutic Camp, a camp for troubled youth, has sued Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn and nine other state officials. [From San Antonio’s Express-News] Betty Lou Gaines, the former director of Woodside Trails Therapeutic Camp in Bastrop County, claims Strayhorn's "Forgotten Children" report was misleading and inaccurate. The April 2004 report was critical of how the Department of Family and Protective Services protects foster children. The camp operated for more than......

Democratic goobernatorial candidate Chris Bell is demanding that Carole Keeton Cougar Rylander Strayhorn return $29,500 she received from members of the Zachry Family, which owns Zachry Construction Corp. Zachry Construction is involved in a partnership to develop the first phase of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which includes 4,000-plus miles of tollways. What bothers Bell is that this is the same project that Strayhorn has spoken out against publicly. In other Grandma Cougar news: Kinky wants......

Independent goober candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn Rylander Cougar Mellencamp is suing the Texas secretary of state over his refusal to let her use "Grandma" on the Nov. 7 ballot. We're pretty sure the filing of a frivolous lawsuit will do very little to help Carole Cougar gain new supporters. It seems Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is reluctant to release information about his investigation of Tom DeLay. In fact, he is suing the......

Secretary of State Roger Williams ruled today that Kinky can be "Kinky" but Carole Keeton Strayhorn Rylander Cougar Mellencamp will simply have to go by her given-name, not "Grandma." Williams said that Friedman has been widely known as "Kinky" for years, while Strayhorn's moniker of "Grandma" was obviously just part of a campaign slogan. Strayhorn's attorney, Roy Minton, has countered that she began using the nickname when she became a grandmother in 1994. Wow!......

According to the announcement today by Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, independent gubernatorial candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn have collected enough voter signatures to make the November election ballot. From the Statesman: The signatures had to be from registered Texas voters who did not cast ballots in the Republican or Democratic primaries this spring. Strayhorn submitted some 223,000 signatures, and Friedman submitted 169,574. Let the games begin.......

Apparently all of Ms. Strayhorn's clever campaigning has come back to bite her in the ass. The "Tough Grandma," as she's been self-monikered, wants to have her name appear on the November ballot as Carole Keeton "Grandma" Strayhorn. Wow! Strayhorn says that her campaigning slogan has left such a lasting impression with voters that many have come to know her simply as "the Grandma." We think the whole thing has a bit of an American......

A professor at UC Davis was awarded a grant to study the relationship between music and emotion. For instance- why do some people get turned on by R. Kelly while it makes us other people want to vomit? Every kid's dream came true for 6-year-old Michael James Emanuel Jr. who was left behind at a Chuck E. Cheese on his birthday. His 23-year-old mother didn't even realize Junior was missing until the following morning.......

Independent Gubernatorial candidates Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman both claim to have received the required 45,540 signatures to place themselves on the upcoming November general election ballot. And while the signatures receive meet the minimum requirement, both candidates bash on regardless, in hopes of avoiding any kind of number counting confusion or discrepancy. One of the potential issues that could arise with two candidates seeking signatures for placement on the ballot would be......

Austin is getting a new public Art Installation. Today at 11am, Mayor Will Wynn and Gibson Guitars will be part of a ceremony kicking-off the project in front of City Hall. Austin GuitarTown is going to feature guitars scattered around the city, placed in front of landmarks and significant businesses, that are painted by local musicians and artisans. NASA is planning to bomb the moon in order to study dust particles that come from......

The Democratic and Republican primary run-offs are tomorrow, April 11th. If you vote in the run-offs you cannot sign Carole Keeton Strayhorn's or Kinky Friedman's petition. You can find your polling location here. Endorsements: Austin Chronicle Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus Austin Sierra Club endorsements West Austin Democrats endorsements Statesman endorsements Strayhorn's petition is available online at www.carolestrayhorn.com or by calling 512-469-9393. Information about Mr. Friedman's petition is available at www.kinkyfriedman.com or by calling 512-326-5465.......

Rick Perry unveiled his school financing plan yesterday and it looks like the smokers get the short end of the stick, again. In his efforts to devise a plan to fund schools and give property tax relief, Perry has suggested cutting property tax by $6 billion, the largest reduction in history, and broaden the franchise tax to apply to more companies and raise cigarette taxes by $1 a pack. Critics of the plan say......

Texas - Texas Independent Gubernatorial Candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn sued Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, a Perry appointee, last Friday, claiming Williams' plan to manually examine her petition signature by signature instead of using a statistical sampling method violated her constitutional rights. Williams also refused Strayhorn's request to be allowed to turn in an initial batch of signatures and then add to that before May 11. Carole Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman have until......

Continuing her rampage against government-affiliated organizations deemed corrupt, State Comptroller and indepedent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn directed her latest assault against Texas lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates. The private firm, which deals with members of Congress, the White House, and a smattering of other higher-ups in Washington, previously held a lucrative $15,000/mo agreement with Texas, in exchange for which it was expected to obtain a maximum of federal funding for various state-funded programs.......

So far early voter turnout for the primary elections is half of what it was during the last gubernatorial election year in 2002. Early vote totals show only two percent of eligible voters turned out for the primary. These numbers could either reflect voter apathy or more importantly this might be an indication that the voters are ready for an alternative to the current two political parties. "We've been flooded by phone calls from......

If you decided not to vote today, you may be interested in attending Kinky Friedman's Petition Drive Kick-off & Midnight Rally. Join Kinky for a midnight rally on the steps of the Capitol in Austin. Kinky will sign his own petition at 12:01 AM – officially March 8th – and will ask his supporters to sign it, too. Be among the first Texans to make the independent choice -- and make a little history.......

Early voting in the governor's race begins today and we think you need to stay home. Independent candidates Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn could benefit if voters don't participate in the March 7th primaries. The independent candidates need more than 45,000 petition signatures to make the November ballot and they must be from registered voters who did not vote in the Republican or Democratic primaries. For those who choose to early vote (see......

State Comptroller and aspiring GOP candidate for the Governorship Carole Keeton Strayhorn went on a rampage earlier this week, furious that the Texas Residential Construction Commission is useless when it comes to forcing homebuilders to repair defects in new-construction homes. The commission, according to their website, serves to "provide Texas homeowners and the residential construction industry an opportunity to resolve differences through a neutral dispute resolution process and ongoing education," though lately they seem......

Guess who is shy about having debates with challengers? Come on guess. You're right if you guessed Ricky Perry. Both Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman have declared that they would debate Ricky anytime, anywhere. You hear that Ricky? We can hold the debates at your secret meeting place where your gang plots the end the world. Our two independent candidates have to collect 45,540 signatures from registered voters who didn't vote in either......

Well Ricky Perry has launched his "Proud of Texas" campaign tour, and we feel it's time to carve out the competition he faces. Perryheads say that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is his most potent rival. You may recall that she surprised folks recently by declaring that she is running as an independent. We're somewhat concerned that she misspelled her name on the candidate form, but we're pretty sure Ricky can't spell her name either.......

Taking a page from former governor Bush's political playbook, Rick Perry has been spending quite a bit of time up conservative Christians' asses of late. In his latest move to pander to the far right, Governor Perry announced Thursday that he believes Texas public schools should teach intelligent design alongside the theory of evolution in science classes. Last month a federal judge in Pennsylvania shot down as unconstitutional a school board's desire to teach......

Today's the first day to apply for a ballot, by mail, for the March 7th Primary Elections. You can fill out a simple form and request a postage-paid application here, or change your name or address online if you're still within the same county. Besides the much-ballyhooed positions already receiving much buzz by the press and bloggerati - things like Governor, US Senator and our Inspectors of Hides and Animals, dozens of offices are......

Hooray! The day has finally arrived and now we can get drunk and be merry and talk about Ann Richard's hair vs. Rick Perry's hair and how many names has Carole Keeton Strayhorn whatever her name is been through anyway? Meet us at tonight at The Draught House at 5pm! 4112 Medical Pkwy. Tweed caps not required, but encouraged!......

Experts are saying the heat is here to stay. We're about three weeks ahead of where we should be, according to meteorologist Mark Murray of KVUE-TV. Tonight at 12:46 a.m., summer will officially begin. [Source] Austin's favorite Governor, Rick Perry, has some competition. State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn announced her candidacy this past Saturday. According to Sunday's Statesman, the republican candidate called Perry a "do nothin' drugstore cowboy" and said he is not a......