Carole Strayhorn Continues to Consider Run for Comptroller as Democrat

by: David Mauro

Wed Dec 16, 2009 at 11:18 PM CST

What may have seen impossible in the immediate wake of her third-place finish in this spring's Austin Mayor race, may actually end up happening. The Statesman's Jason Embry has reported that Carole Strayhorn has had discussions with Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd Richie about seeking the party's nomination for comptroller.

Strayhorn, who has run for office as a Democrat, Republican, and Independent, has served as Mayor of Austin, railroad commissioner, and, before incumbent Susan Combs took office in 2007, comptroller. 

The Statesman's Gardner Selby had previously reported that Strayhorn had contacted Houston Mayor Bill White, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, about her possible candidacy for comptroller.

TDP communications director Kirsten Gray told Embry the following:

“We will rely on our voters to consider each candidate’s record and decide if they have the Democratic credentials they want in a nominee. Our role is to run a fair primary.”

While former Congressman Nick Lampson said he was considering running and State Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) briefly thought about entering the race, no Democrat has decided to challenge Combs yet.

If Strayhorn decides to run, she will have a lot of explaining to do for her Republican past and, given the frequency of her attempts at electoral office, she will have to also prove that she truly wants to be comptroller. Despite her negatives, she has won at least four or five statewide elections, and certainly has higher name ID than probably any other potential rival to Combs, whose campaign has $4 million on hand.

Rep. Mike Villarreal Considering Run for Comptroller

by: Karl-Thomas Musselman

Wed Dec 09, 2009 at 07:07 PM CST

Democratic statehouse Rep. Mike Villarreal of San Antonio is considering running for comptroller and is expected to make a decision next week. The five-term House member is a financial advisor who holds a masters in public policy from Harvard.

The state Democratic Party has been trying to recruit candidates from different areas of the state, where their presumed popularity and political cred could attract hometown voters to the polls and lend strength to a Democratic ticket.

According to a Villarreal spokesman, he will soon be launching a video outlining his vision for Texas. Villarreal should be given some credit for his work this past session in which he actively reached out to blogs, talked about issues, and had some of the more substantive conversations about policy affecting Texas. He's smart, hails from a safe Democratic district in San Antonio, and would add a compelling new voice to the statewide Democratic ticket should he decide to run in 2010.

Stealing From Our Schools

by: Matt Glazer

Thu Aug 23, 2007 at 02:37 PM CDT

In the name of economic development, some Texas school districts are using a 2001 law to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to big business. The comptroller estimates that this lost tax revenue will cost the state's public education fund $500 million by 2010-11.

School districts are using the program to circumvent Robin Hood, the state policy that works to provide equity for public school financing by redistributing dollars from rich to poor school districts.  Districts receive kickbacks of up to 50 percent of the businesses' savings. These kickbacks, sometimes worth millions of dollars, are not subject to Robin Hood.

Texans for Public Justice has the first of a two part series, “Watch Your Assetts”.

Build A Wall and Lose $18 Billion

by: Matt Glazer

Fri Dec 08, 2006 at 03:50 PM CST

That right billion with a "b".

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that the United States had 11.1 million undocumented immigrants in 2005. Of these it said Texas accounted for between 1.4 million and 1.6 million.

According to a report by Reuters:

"The absence of the estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants in Texas in fiscal 2005 would have been a loss to our gross state product of $17.7 billion," said Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn.

The report says that would be a loss of 2.1 percent to the state's gross domestic product, which is the broadest measure of all goods and services produced in the state.

"Undocumented immigrants produced $1.58 billion in state revenues, which exceeded the $1.16 billion in state services they received. However, local governments bore the burden of $1.44 billion in uncompensated health care costs and local law enforcement costs not paid for by the state," Strayhorn added.

The net increase to state revenues came from payments such as sales taxes and user fees.