Farouk Mohammed Shami, who’s running for governor as a Democrat, has a strong Middle Eastern accent and a strange name. Some of his fellow Democrats are loathe to talk about it. He’s not worried. “If a president can be named Barack Hussein Obama, a governor can be named Farouk Shami,” he said. “If a president can be black, a governor can be brown.”
Ann Richards
Posted in
Politics
Spoiler Alert
What’s it like to be a person who wages a no-win campaign but, by taking votes away, dooms the chances of one or more of the other candidates in the race? Mark White knows. Kinky Friedman knows. Debra Medina could soon find out.
Posted inState Government
Ready to Runoff
Let’s say, thanks to Debra Medina, neither Rick Perry nor Kay Bailey Hutchison cracks 50 percent in the Republican gubernatorial primary. What exactly happens next? When? And which of the two top finishers will have the edge?
Posted in
Politics
A Brief History of Fratricide
Ask a Republican who’s not on Gov. Rick Perry or Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s payroll about the 2010 governor’s primary, and you’ll get a response about a well-timed trip to Palm Springs in early March, when the two candidates square off. Party faithful want to stay above the fray: Primary challenges to longstanding incumbents tend to get rough quick.