Burnt Orange Report

Perry vs. Strayhorn in 2006?

By Byron LaMasters

A lot of bloggers here in Texas have speculated about a Carole Keeton Strayhorn primary challenge to Rick Perry in 2006. Now, the Houston Chronicle has its take on the possibility:

The special legislative session on public school finance could be mistaken for the Republican gubernatorial primary of 2006 as Gov. Rick Perry publicly spars with possible challenger Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

During the session's first week, the animosity between Perry and Strayhorn flared in dueling news conferences and public appearances. Perry and Strayhorn all but called each other liars as they bitterly argued over the financial impact of the governor's school finance plan.

In the background, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison -- who has been mostly silent in the school finance fight -- has kept a heavy schedule of public appearances across Texas. When supporters ask, she politely responds that she might be interested in running for governor in the Republican primary two years from now.

[...]

last year's battles over the state budget and congressional redistricting damaged Perry politically among the state's general election population. His overall job approval rating was 40 percent, according to last month's Scripps Howard Texas Poll, and only 33 percent of the state's independent swing voters thought Perry was doing a good job as governor.

Perry has remained strong among likely Republican primary voters, with 66 percent of the GOP respondents to the Texas Poll saying Perry has been doing a good job. With the Texas Democratic Party all but dead in statewide elections, Perry's biggest obstacle to re-election would be a tough Republican primary challenge.

[...]

The animosity between Perry and Strayhorn began last year. Perry uninvited Strayhorn from the weekly leadership breakfasts. She refused to certify the budget. Legislators at Perry's urging stripped Strayhorn's office of two of her high-profile programs: eTexas and the Texas School Performance reviews.

"It's a little too easy to say (Strayhorn's current attacks on Perry) reflect her future ambitions. It also reflects the fact that Perry is out to see her run out of state government," said Rice University political scientist John Alford. "It's sort of a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. Did Perry decide to go after her when he figured she was going to run against him, or did she decide to run against him when she decided she had no future any other way?"

Perry's skirmishes with Hutchison have been more low-profile. Earlier this year when Hutchison told a Rio Grande Valley business gathering that the Bush administration's dealings with Mexico on water had been "halfhearted," Perry chided Hutchison as being "overly critical."

Keep up the attacks guys. I'm looking forward to a hard fought, nasty, dirty primary that turns off everyone except that right wing extremists. If so, Democrats might just have a chance to win some statewides in 2006. In all honesty, I'm more optimistic that 2010 will be a more likely possibility for a Democratic breakthrough year in Texas, but I'll keep my fingers crossed for 2006 at least.