Texas Governor's race makes history......katlillie

AUSTIN, Texas -- June 21, 2006 -- Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams today informed independent candidate Kinky Friedman that his name will appear on the statewide general election ballot for governor this November.

"According to the verification, your petition has a sufficient number of signatures to qualify you for a place on the ballot. Accordingly, your name will be certified to the counties on Sept. 6, 2006 as an independent candidate for the office of governor," said the letter from Williams' office.

"The people of Texas have spoken -- they're ready for change," Friedman said. "They're sick and tired of politics as usual, and they're ready to elect an independent candidate in November."

"Not one but two viable independent candidates have made the ballot for the first time in nearly 150 years," Friedman added. "This tells us what we've long suspected: the two-party system has failed our state. Only an independent candidate - one who is not owned by special interests - can restore Texas."

The campaign delivered 170,258 signatures to the Secretary of State's office on May 11. Of those, 137,154 signatures were considered valid, an 81 percent validity rate. (The state comptroller, who is also running as an independent, submitted 222,514 signatures of which 108,512 were valid, a 49 percent validity rate.) The signatures for Friedman's campaign, which were collected during a 62-day period almost entirely by volunteers, represented voters in all 254 Texas counties.

"The campaign appreciates the fact that the Secretary of State certified the signatures within the six-week period he promised," said campaign director Dean Barkley. "We also congratulate Comptroller Strayhorn on her success. We have no doubt this will be the most exciting race for governor the state of Texas has ever seen."

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