Race for Texas governor gets wild

AUSTIN, Texas --Republicans fought for years to win control of Texas. Now they rule and are ripping one another in a ruthless race for governor.

The squabbling got so bad that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn pulled out of the March GOP primary, opting to run as an independent. That means her attacks on Republican Gov. Rick Perry could last until the November election.

Humorist Kinky Friedman, declaring himself the "anti-politician," also wants on the ballot as an independent.

"For those of us who are political junkies, it's like the Christmas gift that keeps on giving," said Jerry Polinard, a political science professor at the University of Texas-Pan American. "The Republican and Democratic candidates are going to look positively boring compared to the independent candidates."

Beyond the entertainment value, the governor's race underscores a phenomenon in the Texas Republican Party that Democrats at one time knew well: Once a party dominates Texas government, infighting tends to erupt within its ranks.

Political battles took place in the Democratic Party throughout the 20th century. Then, when Republican George W. Bush became governor in the 1990s, the GOP flourished and captured all statewide offices by 1998, holding onto them ever since.

Strayhorn has insisted that she is a Republican but is going independent to set partisan politics aside and do what's right for Texas.

"It's time to shake Austin up," said Strayhorn. Two of her sons hold high-ranking jobs in President Bush's administration, including White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

Perry's campaign says Strayhorn could never have won the GOP primary and now is displaying "transparent political opportunism."

Democrats, meanwhile, are in a rebuilding phase but find themselves with the more competitive spring primary. Former congressman Chris Bell and former court justice Bob Gammage are vying for the gubernatorial nomination.

Perry, a veteran campaigner who has never lost a race, faces only minor opposition in his primary. He's the favorite in November at this point and is expected to draw the votes of the Republican faithful in Bush's home state.

But anti-Perry Republicans may have the chance to vote for Strayhorn, if she collects the 45,540 voters signatures needed to get on the ballot as an independent.

Strayhorn and Perry could split the Republican vote, and Friedman could end up being Perry's greatest threat, Polinard said.

"The anti-Perry (voter) might decide, 'What the hey, if it's good enough for Minnesota, it's good enough for us," Polinard said, referring to the 1998 surprise victory of former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura for governor of Minnesota.

Friedman's campaign manager, Dean Barkley, helped engineer Ventura's victory, and Ventura has showed up to support Friedman's candidacy.

Ventura and Friedman offer a similar style and approach to politics, said Larry Jacobs, a political scientist with the Humprhey Institute at the University of Minnesota.

"Clearly, they're reaching out to the voters who are tired of the same old thing, who are disaffected," Jacobs said. "They cast a pretty powerful persona as truth-seekers."

Independent candidates in Texas have a rough history though.

Not since Sam Houston in 1859 has an independent been elected governor, according to the Texas Legislative Reference Library. The only independent candidate on the ballot since was George Washington Jones, who lost to a Democrat in 1882 and 1884, library research shows.

In the last three governor elections, the winner of the GOP primary has gone on to become the state's chief executive.