Perry wins Texas Governors race

Houston Chronicle:

Despite winning less than half of the votes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was re-elected today, beating a unique set of opponents for the chance to be the longest-serving governor in state history.

In early returns, Perry had 41 percent of the vote, compared to 29 percent for Democrat Chris Bell and 18 percent for independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn. Kinky Friedman, also an independent, had 11 percent.

The Republican governor ran with a "Proud of Texas" message as he successfully campaigned on a record including initiatives on school finance, lower property taxes, border security, economic development and transportation.

"The future of Texas has never been brighter," Perry told select crowds on a careful last road trip that seemed intended to safeguard his consistent lead in the polls. He said the campaign was about "keeping Texas on a pathway to prosperity and opportunity by creating jobs, improving schools, securing our border."

His opponents found much to criticize.

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Well, that is what opponents do. Heck, I can find much to criticize about all Democrats as well as a lot of reporters. The fact is that Perry won handily against a bunch of candidates some of whom were actually interesting like Friedman and Strayhorn. Like most Democrats running in statewide offices Bell got less than a third of the vote. He actually ran a little behind other Democrats in statewide races, but Kinky Friedman was probably peeling away some of his votes just as Strayhorn was peeling away Republican votes.