From the Houston Chronicle:
AUSTIN - Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, in either a bold stroke or a huge long shot, stepped away from the Republican primary Monday to challenge Gov. Rick Perry as an independent candidate.
No independent candidate has won the Governor's Mansion in the 147 years since it was taken by Sam Houston, a hero of the Texas war for independence and two-time president of the Republic of Texas.
http://www.chron.com/...
Instantly upon hearing her name, I remembered two things about Strayhorn. The first is that she is White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's mother.
The other was an abuse of power in her office as Texas' Comptroller to deny Unitarians a tax-exempt status. More below the fold...
From Google's cache of the article I remembered:
AUSTIN, Texas - (KRT) - Unitarian Universalists have for decades presided over births, marriages and memorials. The church operates in every state, with more than 5,000 members in Texas alone.
But according to the office of Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a Texas Unitarian church isn't really a religious organization - at least for tax purposes. Its reasoning: The organization "does not have one system of belief."
Never before - not in this state nor any other - has a government agency denied Unitarians tax-exempt status because of the group's religious philosophy, church officials say. Strayhorn's ruling clearly infringes upon religious liberties, said Dan Althoff, board president for the Denison, Texas, congregation that was rejected for tax exemption by the comptroller's office.
http://72.14.203.104/...