2006 Texas gubernatorial election
November 7, 2006
 
Nominee Rick Perry Chris Bell
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,716,803 1,310,353
Percentage 39.0% 29.8%
 
Nominee Carole Keeton Strayhorn Kinky Friedman
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 797,577 546,869
Percentage 18.1% 12.4%
County results

Perry:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Bell:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Strayhorn:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%
Governor before election

Rick Perry
Republican

 Elected Governor

Rick Perry
Republican

The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor of Texas. The election was a rare five-way race, with incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry running for re-election against Democrat Chris Bell and Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, as well as Libertarian nominee James Werner.

Perry was re-elected to a second full term in office, winning 39% of the vote to Bell's 30%, Strayhorn's 18%, and Friedman's 12%. Perry carried 209 out of the state's 254 counties, while Bell carried 39 and Strayhorn carried 6. Exit polls revealed that Perry won the white vote with 46%, while Bell got 22%, Strayhorn got 16% and Friedman got 15%. Bell won 63% of African Americans, while Perry got 16%, Strayhorn got 15% and Friedman got 4%. Bell also won the Latino vote with 41%, while Perry got 31%, Strayhorn got 18% and Friedman got 4%.

Perry was inaugurated for a second full four-year term on January 16, 2007. The ceremony was held inside the House of Representatives chamber at the Texas Capitol after thunderstorms canceled the planned outdoor ceremony. This remains the last time Republicans won a statewide race in Texas with only a plurality. Despite only winning 29% of the vote, this is the closest the Democrats have come to winning a Texas gubernatorial election in the 21st Century.

As of 2023, this is the most recent gubernatorial election where Swisher, Crosby, Fisher, Haskell, Red River, Morris, Marion, Bastrop, Newton, Jefferson, Bee, and Calhoun counties voted for the Democratic candidate, and the most recent where Cameron County voted for the Republican candidate, as well as the most recent where Cooke, Nolan, Wilson, Goliad, and Wharton counties did not vote for the Republican candidate.

Requirements

It is difficult for an independent gubernatorial candidate to gain ballot access in the state of Texas. The election law, summarized briefly, requires the following:

  • The candidate must obtain signatures from registered voters, in an amount equalling at least one percent of the total votes cast in the prior gubernatorial election. For the 2006 ballot, this required 45,540 signatures. (This is also the number of signatures required for a third party to gain ballot access, which only the Libertarian Party did in 2006.)
  • The signatures must come from registered voters who did not vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries or in any runoff elections for governor.
  • The signatures must come from registered voters who have not signed a petition for any other independent candidate. In other words, a Strayhorn supporter cannot also sign Friedman's petition, nor vice versa. If a supporter signed more than one petition, only the first signature counts.
  • The signatures must be obtained within 60 days following the primary election; the window is shortened to 30 days if a runoff election for either party's gubernatorial candidate is required. In 2006, neither party had a runoff election for governor; therefore, the candidates had the full 60 days – until May 11, 2006.

In the event a candidate does not qualify for independent status, they may still run as a write-in candidate. The candidate must pay a $3,750 filing fee and submit 5,000 qualified signatures. However, the filing cannot take place any earlier than July 30, nor later than 5:00 PM on August 29.

Primaries

Republican

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rick Perry (incumbent) 552,545 84.23
Republican Larry Kilgore 50,119 7.64
Republican Rhett Smith 30,255 4.60
Republican Star Locke 23,030 3.51
Total votes 655,919 100.00


Democratic

Democratic primary results[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Chris Bell 324,869 63.87
Democratic Bob Gammage 145,081 28.53
Democratic Rashad Jafer 38,652 7.60
Total votes 508,602 100.00

Other candidates

Independent

Libertarian

  • James Werner – Sales Consultant.

Campaign

Perry

Incumbent Rick Perry became governor in late 2000 when then-Governor George W. Bush resigned following his election as President of the United States. He had been elected lieutenant governor in 1998. Perry was subsequently elected governor in his own right in 2002 and successfully ran for a second full term in 2006.

Perry's overall poll ratings had plummeted since the 2002 election, plagued by budget woes, battles over school financing reform, and a contentious and controversial redistricting battle. His approval rating dropped to 38% during the latter part of the 2005 legislative session. Perry then improved from this position, more recently holding a 44% approval rating, with 51% disapproving, as of a September 2006 poll.[4] Texas election laws do not require a run-off in the event that a majority is not achieved, and so Governor Perry joined only two other Texas governors to achieve the office by a plurality of less than 40%. The Texas Governor Elections of 1853 and 1861 both won with less than 40% of the vote.

Despite weak polling numbers, Perry had the support of the Texas GOP. According to Perry's campaign website, he gained 142 separate endorsements. Perry had endorsements from virtually the entire Texas GOP Congressional delegation (all but two members), every other Republican statewide officeholder (except Strayhorn and judicial officeholders; the latter by law cannot endorse political candidates), 51 of the 62 members of the Texas Republican Party executive committee, and nearly every major Texas pro-business, fiscal conservative, and social conservative organization and PAC. Perry even managed to gain the endorsement of the Teamsters Union, notwithstanding Texas's strong right to work laws.

Friedman

Kinky Friedman contemplates a question from the audience at a campaign rally in Bastrop, Texas.

Kinky Friedman, an independent candidate, gained a good amount of popular support among Texas voters. He claimed that country-music lovers, college students, animal lovers, ranchers, and anyone who didn't vote in the last election were among his supporters.

Friedman briefly enjoyed a high standing in the polls, and surpassed Democrat Chris Bell by Independence Day. As Election Day drew near, his campaign fizzled out as much of his wide support was among young voters. He finished fourth in the election with under 13% of the vote. His website claimed that "he doesn't put much stock in unscientific political polls among "likely" voters, saying, "It's Kinky Friedman versus apathy". Friedman stated during the campaign that he was going after the 71% who didn't make it to the polls in 2002.

Bell

Chris Bell, a former Congressman from Houston, filed an ethics complaint against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as a lame duck who had been defeated in his party's primary after the controversial mid-decade redistricting in the state. Bell announced his run in July 2005.

Bell's official strategy was to get Democrats to unite behind and vote for a Democrat, predicting (and betting on) a splintering of the Republican vote among Perry, Strayhorn, and Friedman, giving the Democrats the needed plurality to win the election.[5] Running on a platform of ethics reform and education issues, he stayed with the pack of three candidates with better name recognition. After a good debate performance, his poll numbers improved significantly to where he had taken second place in nearly every poll afterward.

Strayhorn

Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, was initially pegged as running in a potentially contentious three-way Republican primary battle with bitter rival Governor Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Hutchison declined to run for governor in late 2005, instead opting to run for re-election to the Senate. This left Strayhorn and Perry vying for the GOP nomination. Believing her chances to be better running as an independent and appealing directly to voters, rather than those of the Republican Party first, she announced her intent to challenge him in the general election instead. Had she run in the primary, the December 2005 Scripps Howard Texas Poll of match ups had Perry in the lead against Strayhorn by a 55%-24% margin.

Strayhorn was seen as a moderate alternative to Perry, and found support among moderate Republicans and independent voters. Although a few polls had her tied for second going into Election day, she finished with 18.13%[6] of the vote, 12% behind Bell and 21% behind Perry.

Werner

James Werner was the Libertarian Party candidate. According to Werner's campaign website, he has a master's degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of California, a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and is currently working for an Austin-based educational software company.

Werner previously ran for Congress in 2004 as the Libertarian nominee. Contending for the 25th District, he garnered 26,748 votes or 0.61%.[6]

Dillon

James "Patriot" Dillon was the only announced write-in candidate, according to information from the Texas Secretary of State's office.[7]

Debates

2006 Texas Governor Debates
No. Date Host Link Participants
Key:
 P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Non-invitee   W  Withdrawn
Rick Perry Chris Bell Carole Keeton Strayhorn Kinky Friedman James Werner
1 October 6, 2006 KERA-TV P P P P N

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[8] Likely R November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[9] Safe R November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[10] Likely R November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics[11] Likely R November 6, 2006

Endorsements

Chris Bell (D)
Individuals

Polling

Graphical summary

Source Date Bell (D) Friedman (I) Perry (R) Strayhorn (I) Werner (L) Margin of error (+/-)
WSJ/Zogby October 31, 2006 28.5% 14.4% 36.7% 15% 2.1% 2.9%
Houston Chronicle/KHOU October 29, 2006 22% 10.5% 38% 21% 1% 3.2%
Rasmussen October 27, 2006 25% 12% 36% 22% ** 4.5%
SurveyUSA October 24, 2006 26% 16% 36% 19% 1% 4.3%
WSJ/Zogby October 19, 2006 26.2% 13.2% 37.5% 13% 3.9% 3%
Dallas Morning News October 5, 2006 15% 14% 38% 18% ** 3.5%
WSJ/Zogby September 25, 2006 22.3% 18.9% 33% 15.5% 1.5% 2.6%
Survey USA September 19, 2006 23% 23% 35% 15% 2% 4.3%
Rasmussen September 13, 2006 18% 16% 33% 22% ** 4.5%
WSJ/Zogby September 5, 2006 25.3% 22.4% 30.7%* 11.1% 2.6% 2.9%
WSJ/Zogby August 28, 2006 23.1% 22.7% 34.8% 9.6% ** **
Rasmussen August 9, 2006 18% 18% 35% 18% ** 4.5%
Rasmussen July 24, 2006 13% 19% 40% 20% ** 4.5%
WSJ/Zogby July 24, 2006 20.8% 20.7% 38.3% 11% ** **
Survey USA June 26, 2006 20% 21% 35% 19% ** 4.2%
WSJ/Zogby June 21, 2006 19.7% 17.5% 37.7% 14.1% ** **
Rasmussen June 12, 2006 14% 20% 38% 19% ** 4.5%
Survey USA May 22, 2006 18% 16% 41% 20% ** 4.1%
Survey USA April 26, 2006 15% 16% 39% 25% ** 4.2%
Rasmussen April 20, 2006 17% 15% 40% 19% ** 3%
WSJ/Zogby March 30, 2006 20.7% 16.6% 36.3% 19% ** **
Dallas Morning News February 18, 2006 19% 10% 36% 16% ** 3%
Rasmussen February 14, 2006 13% 9% 40% 31% ** 4.5%
Rasmussen January 5, 2006 14% 12% 40% 21% ** 4.5%

* denotes polling result winner is within the margin of error

** denotes data was not reported by the pollster

Results

Percent change available only for parties that participated in the 2002 Texas gubernatorial election.

2006 Texas gubernatorial election[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Rick Perry (incumbent) 1,716,803 39.03 -18.78
Democratic Chris Bell 1,310,353 29.79 -10.17
Independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn 797,577 18.13
Independent Richard "Kinky" Friedman 546,869 12.43
Libertarian James Werner 26,748 0.61 -0.86
Independent James "Patriot" Dillon (Write-in) 718 0.02
Majority 406,450 9.24
Turnout 4,399,068 -3.40
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Independent

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2006 Republican Party Primary Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us. July 3, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  2. ↑ "gov1845-2010table" (PDF). texasalmanac.com.
  3. ↑ "2006 Democratic Party Primary Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us. July 3, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Results of SurveyUSA News Poll #10269". SurveyUSA. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  5. ↑ Stanford, Jason. "3 Republicans, 1 Democrat Archived 2006-06-21 at the Wayback Machine". January 2, 2006. Accessed March 26, 2006.
  6. 1 2 "2006 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Texas". Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cumulative Results Special Congressional Election and Gubernatorial Election" (PDF). co.travis.tx.us. November 15, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2008.
  8. ↑ "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  9. ↑ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  10. ↑ "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Chris Bell (TX-Governor) | WesPAC". November 4, 2006. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "2006 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
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