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    Texas gubernatorial election, 2010

    From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 9 min

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    In the Texas gubernatorial election of 2010, held on November 2, 2010, Republican incumbent Rick Perry defeated Democrat Bill White.

    In the March 2, 2010 primary elections, Bill White bested his only serious competition, Farouk Shami, while Rick Perry dismissed U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, his major challenger.

    November 2, 2010 general election results[edit]

    Certified results were due on December 2, 2010 and were canvassed by the state legislature in January 2011.[1]

    Governor of Texas, 2010
    Party Candidate Vote % Votes
         Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRick Perry Incumbent 55% 2,737,481
         Democratic Bill White 42.3% 2,106,395
         Libertarian Kathie Glass 2.2% 109,211
         Green Deb Shafto 0.4% 19,516
         Write-In Andy Barron 0.1% 7,267
    Total Votes 4,979,870
    Election results via Texas Secretary of State


    Inauguration and transition[edit]

    Inaugural date[edit]

    Rick Perry took the oath of office for his third full term on January 18, 2011.

    Primaries[edit]

    Democratic[edit]

    The Democratic primary was dominated by popular Houston Mayor Bill White from the start. His only serious opposition came from Houston businessman Farouk Shami. Perennial candidate Richard "Kinky" Friedman withdrew his candidacy and instead decided to run for Agriculture Commissioner. Friedman also soon encouraged Shami to withdraw and endorse White to increase Democratic odds in the general election.[2] Tom Schieffer, previously seen as White's biggest challenge in the primary, withdrew from the race and endorsed White[3].

    2010 Race for Governor - Democrat Primary[4]
    Candidates Percentage
    Green check mark.jpg Bill White (D) 76.0%
    Farouk Shami (D) 12.8%
    Felix Alvarado (D) 5.0%
    Alma Alguado (D) 2.9%
    Clement E. Glenn (D) 1.4%
    Bill Dear (D) 1.0%
    Star Locke (D) 0.9%
    Total votes 679,877

    Republican[edit]

    In the 2010 Texas gubernatorial race the Republican primary garnered nearly overwhelming news and attention. Texas leans strongly red and Democratic candidates for both statewide and national office face steep uphill battles from the outset. The showdown between incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry and challenger Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison netted virtually all eyes. Also vying was longshot candidate Debra Medina who, following a suit against the state GOP, saw increasing support in online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Medina was also state coordinator for Campaign for Liberty, a Libertarian group founded by Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), putting a large network of activists behind her. Secessionist candidate Larry Kilgore withdrew from the race and endorsed Medina.

    Still, the GOP primary came down to a face-off between Hutchison and Perry, with the latter enjoying a consistent edge in polls.[5] Perry's double-digit wins in polls translated into a real win on primary day, when he took 51% - enough to preclude any runoff. The third player in the primary race, Debra Medina, won just under one-fifth of the votes, enough that she may have been instrumental in guaranteeing Perry need not worry about a runoff.

    2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary[6]
    Candidates Percentage
    Green check mark.jpg Rick Perry (R) 51.1%
    Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) 30.3%
    Debra Medina (R) 18.6%
    Total votes 1,484,111

    Libertarian[edit]

    Nationwide polls signaled dissatisfaction with Congress and disillusionment with the current Administration. At the grassroots, the Tea Party movement translated this discontent into a real phenomena in the campaign season. While many states had Libertarian candidates on the ballot, Texas really was one to watch. In 2008, William Strange III, running as a Libertarian for a seat on the Court of Appeals, won 18.1% of the vote, far and away meeting the 5% threshold to guarantee his party a spot on the 2010 ballot. Following Texas law, the Libertarians, as a third party, held a nominating convention. Taking place in Austin in early June, Kathie Glass defeated Jeff Daiell with 73% of the vote.[7]

    Daiell had previously sought the office, running all the way back to 1990, when he garnered 129,000 votes. Additionally, in the 2006 gubernatorial cycle, Libertarian nominee James Werner was guaranteed a ballot spot due to the party's showing in 2004. Even if trends in the 2010 didn't lead anyone to call the race for the Libertarians, the strength and organization of the party argued for factoring them into vote forecasts into the future. Indeed Miss Glass promised, the "most high-profile, most vigorous" campaign Texas Libertarians had seen when she took the stage at her party's convention.

    Nine Libertarians held elected office in Texas, and none other than former Democratic and independent candidate Kinky Friedman delivered the keynote address[8], in which he directly called out the nominees for the two major parties, saying, "Rick Perry and Bill White — it's like the lesser of two boll weevils. This is the classic choice between paper or plastic. I think the day has come for Libertarians"[9]

    2010 Race for Governor - Libertarian Convention
    Candidates Percentage
    Jeff Daiell (L) 25.0%
    Green check mark.jpg Kathie Glass (L) 73.0%
    Steve Nichols (L)[10] 2.0%

    Race ratings[edit]

    2010 Race Rankings Texas
    Race Tracker Race Rating
    The Cook Political Report[11] Leans Republican
    Congressional Quarterly Politics[12] Leans Republican
    Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball[13] Likely Republican
    Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard[14] Leans Republican
    The Rothenberg Political Report[15] Leans Republican
    Overall Call Republican

    Changes[edit]

    7. Cook Political Report moved race from "Toss-up" to "Leans Republican" on October 29th.

    6. Rothenberg moved race from "Toss-up Tilting Republican" to "Lean Republican" on October 28th.

    5. Larry J. Sabato moved race from "Lean Republican" to "Likely Republican" on October 28th.

    4. Rasmussen Reports changes rating from "Solid Republican" to "Lean Republican" following October 21st polling.

    3. Rasmussen moved race from "Lean Republican" to "Solid Republican" following October 7th polling.

    2. Rothenberg moved race from "Lean Republican" to "Toss-up Tilting Republican" in its October 1st ratings.

    1. Rasmussen Reports changed rating from "Solid Republican" to "Lean Republican" following September 22nd polling.

    Polling[edit]

    General election polling[edit]

    Blum & Webprin[edit]

    2010 Race for Texas Governor – Wilson Research Strategies
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Glass (L) Shafto (I)
    September 15-22, 2010[16] 46% 39% 4% 1%
    (Sample) n=692 MoE=+/- 3.9% p=0.05

    Wilson Research Strategies[edit]

    2010 Race for Texas Governor – Wilson Research Strategies
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    August 29-30, 2010[17] 50% 38% 1% 11%
    (Sample) n=1,001 MoE=+/- 3.1% p=0.05

    Rasmussen Reports[edit]

    2010 Race for Texas Governor - Rasmussen Reports[18]
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    October 21, 2010[19] 51% 42% 2% 5%
    October 6, 2010[20] 53% 42% 2% 4%
    September 22, 2010[21] 48% 42% 3% 6%
    August 22, 2010[22] 49% 41% 3% 7%
    July 13, 2010[23] 50% 41% 2% 7%
    June 16, 2010[24] 48% 40% 5% 8%
    May 13, 2010[25] 51% 38% 4% 6%
    April 14, 2010[26] 48% 44% 2% 6%
    March 3, 2010[27] 49% 43% 3% 6%
    (Sample)[28] n=500 MoE=+/- 4.5% p=0.05

    Primary election polling[edit]

    2010 Race for Texas Governor - Rasmussen Reports[29]
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 22, 2010[30] 47% 41% 5% 7%
    Hutchison (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 22, 2010[31] 47% 38% 8% 7%
    Medina (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 22, 2010[32] 37% 47% 7% 9%
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 1, 2010[33] 48% 39% 5% 8%
    Hutchison (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 1, 2010[34] 49% 36% 7% 7%
    Medina (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    February 1, 2010[35] 41% 38% 6% 16%
    Date Reported Perry (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    January 17, 2010[36] 50% 40% 4% 6%
    Hutchison (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    January 17, 2010[37] 52% 37% 4% 8%
    Medina (R) White (D) Other Don't Know
    January 17, 2010[38] 38% 44% 5% 13%
    (Sample)[39] n=500 MoE=+/- 4.5% p=0.05

    Candidates[edit]

    The November Ballot – Who Made It? Texas Governor[40]
    Nominee Affiliation
    Bill White Democrat
    Rick Perry Republican
    Deb Shafto Green
    Katherine Youngblood "Kathie" Glass Libertarian
    Amanda Ulman Socialist Workers (write-in)
    Andy Baron (write-in)
    This lists candidates who won their state's primary or convention, or who were unopposed, and who were officially certified for the November ballot by their state's election authority.

    Democratic[edit]

    • Alma Alguado
    • Felix Alvarado
    • Bill Dear
    • Clement E. Glenn
    • Star Locke
    • Farouk Shami
    • Bill White

    Libertarian[edit]

    • Jeff Daiell, a businessman hailing from Houston, lost at the Libertarian's June 12th convention.
    • Attorney Kathie Glass, also of Houston, won a decisive 73% of the ballot at the convention.

    Republican[edit]

    Third Party[edit]

    • Fran Cavanaugh, a businessman and nonprofit executive, identified as a conservative leader during his campaign
    • Hank Gilbert switched to running as a Democrat for Agriculture Commissioner, running on his background in ranching and agricultural education.
    • Kenneth Griffin used YouTube as a platform for many of his campaign messages.[41]
    • Kevin Still, an Army veteran, ran as a representative of middle class Texans who he argued were not being served by the major parties.

    Withdrawn

    • Larry Kilgore (R) (endorsed Debra Medina) had aligned his gubernatorial bid with the idea of Texas secesstion.[42]
    • Tom Schieffer (D) (endorsed Bill White)
    • Richard "Kinky" Friedman (D),a writer and political satirist with national name recognition has long been active in Texas politics. In 2006 he ran as an Independent for the governorship. 2010 saw him campaign first for the gubernatorial nomination and then for the state's Agriculture Commissioner as a Democrat, though he more recently addressed a convention of Libertarians.

    Key endorsements[edit]

    Rick Perry[edit]

    • National Rifle Association[43]

    Campaign advertisements[edit]

    Rick Perry rolled out his campaign's first ad of the fall season in mid-September, and immediately got blowback on the theme. In the spot, Perry walked past several stores in Austin's South Congress neighborhood while touting Texas economy and unemployment figures. However, at least two of the featured stores' owners came forward to say they never gave the campaign permission to film their shops and that they would not be voting for Perry.[44]

    The ad began airing on Sunday, September 12, 2010 and, while store owners confirmed the campaign's cameramen identified themselves as working for the Perry campaign and got permission to take footage of the storefronts, at least one owner claimed she was not told the footage was for a campaign ad.

    Meanwhile, the ad Bill White was running addressed immigration enforcement and took Rick Perry to task for failing to secure more federal money to assist Texas in handling immigration issues.


    Bill White for Governor Border Security ad.

    Rick Perry for Governor Texas: Open for Business ad.

    Rick Perry for Governor Border ad.

    Democratic Governor's Association[edit]

    Texas may be a long-time GOP stronghold, more disposed to send its Republican governors to Washington than to see them lose to Democratic challengers. However, the Democratic Governor's Association felt it could change that in 2010, and, on top of $2 million already spent in support of candidate Bill White, announced a fresh media buy to air in Dallas in the last week of September.[45] The ads opposing Perry were thought to cost the DGA $650,000 to $700,000 a week.

    Polls at the time showed White edging closer to incumbent Republican Rick Perry and pegged Dallas as the standout urban center where Perry still easily beat White. The ad painted White as having been in politics too long and having fallen out of touch with Texans.

    Gubernatorial electoral history[edit]

    1998 Gubernatorial Results[46][47]
    Candidates Percentage
    George W. Bush (R) 68.24%
    Garry Mauro (D) 31.18%
    Lester Turnlington, Jr. (L) 0.55%
    Susan Solar (write-in) 0.03%
    Total votes 3,738,078

    2002 Gubernatorial Results[48][49]
    Candidates Percentage
    Rick Perry (R) 57.81%
    Tony Sanchez (D) 39.96%
    Jeff Daiell (L) 1.47%
    Rahul Mahajan (G) 0.71%
    (write-in) 0.06%
    Total votes 4,553,979

    2006 Gubernatorial Results[50][51]
    Candidates Percentage
    Rick Perry (R) 39.03%
    Chris Bell (D) 29.79%
    Carole Keeton Strayhorn (IND) 18.13%
    Richard 'Kinky' Friedman (IND) 12.43%
    James Werner (L) 0.61%
    (write-in) 0.02%
    Total votes 4,399,068

    Presidential electoral history[edit]

    2000 Presidential Results
    Candidates Percentage
    George W. Bush (R) 59.30%
    Al Gore (D) 37.98%

    2004 Presidential Results
    Candidates Percentage
    George W. Bush (R) 61.09%
    John Kerry (D) 38.22%

    2008 Presidential Results[52]
    Candidates Percentage
    John McCain (R) 55.39%
    Barack Obama (D) 43.63%

    1992 Presidential Results
    Candidates Percentage
    George H.W. Bush (R) 40.56%
    Bill Clinton (D) 37.08%

    1996 Presidential Results
    Candidates Percentage
    Bob Dole (R) 48.76%
    Bill Clinton (D) 43.83%

    See also[edit]

    External links[edit]

    Candidate pages

    Footnotes[edit]

    1. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Race Summary Report: 2010 General Election (Gov & Lt. Gov canvassed Jan. by Leg.)," updated November 3, 2010 at 12:15, accessed November 15, 2010 and December 23, 2010
    2. ↑ Kinky Friedman withdraws from Texas governor's race
    3. ↑ Schieffer's Out
    4. ↑ Texas Office of the Secretary of State, "2010 Democratic Party Primary Election," March 2, 2010
    5. ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Texas Republican Primary," accessed July 17, 2010
    6. ↑ Texas Office of the Secretary of State, "2010 Republican Party Primary Election," March 2, 2010
    7. ↑ The Texas Statesman, "Texas Libertarians to pick candidate for governor," June 10, 2010
    8. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Friedman Tells Libertarians He "Is One" in Spirit," June 13, 2010
    9. ↑ The Texas Statesman, "Libertarians, convening in Austin, pick candidates for November," June 13, 2010
    10. ↑ [Mr. Nichols withdrew moments before balloting began and made a last-minute endorsement of Kathie Glass]
    11. ↑ The Cook Political, “Governors: Race Ratings”
    12. ↑ CQ Politics, “2010 Race Ratings: Governors”
    13. ↑ Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball', “2010 Governor Ratings”
    14. ↑ Rasmussen Reports', “Election 2010: Scorecard Ratings”
    15. ↑ Rothenberg Political Report, “Governor Ratings”
    16. ↑ Dallas Morning News, “Poll finds Perry has the numbers, but White has a shot”, September 2, 2010
    17. ↑ Wilson Research Strategies, “Wilson Research Strategies”, September 2, 2010
    18. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Toplines: State Profiles: Texas”, accessed August 30, 2010
    19. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Election 2010: Texas Governor: Perry (R) Remains Out Front”, October 23, 2010
    20. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Perry (R) Opens Double-Digit Lead Over White (D)”, October 7, 2010
    21. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Election 2010: Texas Governor: Perry (R) Continues To Hold Small Lead”, September 24, 2010
    22. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Election 2010: Texas Governor: Perry (R) 49%, White (D) 41%”, August 23, 2010
    23. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry (R) 50%, White (D) 41%”, July 15, 2010
    24. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry (R) 48%, White (D) 40%”, June 18, 2010
    25. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry 51%, White 38%”, May 18, 2010
    26. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry 48%, White 44%”, April 19, 2010
    27. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry 49%, White 43%”, March 4, 2010
    28. ↑ [More complete methodology and sampling tabs are available at www.RasmussenReports.com]
    29. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “State Profiles: Texas”, accessed August 30, 2010
    30. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry, Hutchison Still Lead White”, February 23, 2010
    31. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry, Hutchison Still Lead White”, February 23, 2010
    32. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: Perry, Hutchison Still Lead White”, February 23, 2010
    33. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: White Trails Perry, Hutchison – And Medina”, February 3, 2010
    34. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: White Trails Perry, Hutchison – And Medina”, February 3, 2010
    35. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “Texas Governor: White Trails Perry, Hutchison – And Medina”, February 3, 2010
    36. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “2010 Texas Governor: White (D) Trails Perry, Hutchison”, January 19, 2010
    37. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “2010 Texas Governor: White (D) Trails Perry, Hutchison”, January 19, 2010
    38. ↑ Rasmussen Reports, “2010 Texas Governor: White (D) Trails Perry, Hutchison”, January 19, 2010
    39. ↑ [More complete methodology and sampling tabs are available at www.RasmussenReports.com]
    40. ↑ Texas Elections Division “2010 November General Election Candidates, accessed September 19, 2010
    41. ↑ YouTube, "Texas Governor of 2010," accessed July 17, 2010
    42. ↑ FaceBook, "Larry Kilgore for Gov - Texas Secession," viewed July 17,, 2010
    43. ↑ McClatchy, "NRA endorses Perry for Texas governor," September 17, 2010
    44. ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Perry’s Texas Ad Misstep," September 13, 2010
    45. ↑ Washington Post, "Democrats go after Gov. Perry in Texas," September 28, 2010
    46. ↑ US Election Atlas, “1998 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Texas”
    47. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, “Office of the Secretary of State 1998 General Election11/3/1998 Governor”
    48. ↑ US Election Atlas, “2002 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Texas”
    49. ↑ / Texas Secretary of State, “Governor Official Returns”
    50. ↑ US Election Atlas, “2006 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Texas”
    51. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, “Office of the Secretary of State 2006 General Election11/2/2006 Governor”
    52. ↑ Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections', accessed July 28, 2010
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