Political strategist Matthew Dowd offers advice for Democrat Bill White as the general election race for Gov. Rick Perry’s job gets underway.
Bill White
Posted inState Government
The Brief: March 5, 2010
Pundits and political observers may finally get what they’ve been wanting in Texas — a close race for governor.
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Criminal Justice
Data App: How Much Votes Cost
Was Farouk Shami, in fact, “on fire”? The Democratic gubernatorial candidate burned through campaign cash, spending $135 for every vote he received in Tuesday’s primary on the way to getting trounced by Bill White — more than any other candidate on the ballot, and by far the most of any losing candidate. By contrast, Democratic land commissioner hopeful Bill Burton spent only 2 cents per vote in a narrow loss to Hector Uribe, who spent only 7 cents per vote himself. All told, candidates spent, on average, about $14 per vote. Explore each campaign’s bang for the buck in our latest data application.
Posted inState Government
A Conversation with Mike Baselice and Matthew Dowd
For the fourth event in our TribLive series, I interviewed Rick Perry’s pollster and George W. Bush’s former strategist about the results on primary night: why the governor avoided a runoff, what KBH could have done differently, whether the Tea Party is really a force to be reckoned with, and how Bill White will be caricatured on the road to November.
Posted inState Government
2010: Bill White’s No Truther
There’s one sure-fire lesson to be taken from the recently ended primary battle in Texas. When it comes to the position of governor, 9/11 “Truthers” need not apply.
Posted inState Government
2010: Rasmussen: Perry 49%, White 43%
Rick Perry leads Bill White by six percentage points in the first poll released after Tuesday’s primary.
Posted inState Government
2010: Cook Calls Guv Race a Toss-Up
The Cook Political Report calls Bill White the strongest Democratic candidate since Ann Richards — possibly strong enough to oust Rick Perry.
Posted inState Government
What Happened Was…
Now that the battle is over in the Republican primary for governor, the pundits can begin the task of figuring out what worked for Rick Perry — and what didn’t for Kay Bailey Hutchison. Ben Philpott, who’s covering the 2010 elections for the Tribune and KUT News, shares an early post-election view from two veteran strategists.
Posted inState Government
Starting Over
The real gift to Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday wasn’t the win over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina in the GOP primary, which was foretold in the polls. It was the quick win. A runoff would have gobbled six weeks and something like $10 million and might have left the winner bruised on the way into a battle with Democrat Bill White, who easily bested six others in his party’s primary. So how does November look from here?
Posted inState Government
2010: Home Field Disadvantage
Among the major gubernatorial hopefuls Tuesday night, only incumbent Rick Perry and former Houston mayor Bill White were able to win the counties where they claim residence.