Houston Community News >> Rick Perry, Nick Lampson wins

11/8/2006 Houston - Democrat Nick Lampson wins District 22 seat. It’s the first time a Democrat will be representing the Houston-area district in more than 20 years.

His opponent, Sekula-Gibbs was still refusing to concede the race just before midnight.

In the Governor's race, Republican Gov. Rick Perry has won another term, becoming the longest-serving governor in Texas history. Perry showed a sizeable lead with about 40 percent of the votes early Tuesday. Democrat Chris Bell trailed with 30 percent, followed by independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn with 19 percent and independent candidate Kinky Friedman with 11 percent.

In El Paso County, Bell was leading all candidates by a brief margin with about 18 percent of precincts reporting. Bell had 36 percent of the vote, and Perry followed with 34 percent. Strayhorn had 20 percent and 10 percent of the votes went to Friedman.

This gubernatorial race has been one of the kookiest in Texas history, gaining national attention with three high-profile candidates taking shots at Perry and one another.

Polls showed that two out of every three Texans wanted to replace Perry, but not one of the three candidates jockeying for support gained enough political traction to defeat the governor.

Bell, a one-term congressman and former Houston City Council representative, had little money and less familiarity among voters but the support of the traditional party. "It has been a long hard battle and one that I will always believe was worth fighting," Bell said in his concession speech.

Strayhorn was the highest vote-getter in the state when she ran in 2002 for her current office, state comptroller, but she eschewed the Republican Party to take on Perry in this race.

Conceding defeat, Strayhorn said she would continue her political career.

"I will continue to fight for better schools. Now is the time for all of us to unite," she said.

Friedman, the mystery writer, musician and humorist, was well-known to Texans, but faced an onslaught of criticism over racially charged remarks early in the campaign season and then performed poorly in the one televised debate of the race.

Based on early voting turnout, Secretary of State Roger Williams predicted about 36 percent of the 13 million registered voters in Texans would turn out for the midterm election.

More than 1 million Texans cast early votes this year, 13.21 percent of voters.

In El Paso County, 9.95 percent of voters, or 37,342, voted before Election Day.

At least 20 people complained to the El Paso County Attorney's office during early voting they had voted for one person, but the voting machine marked the opponent instead.

El Paso voter Rogelio Guzman, who voted Tuesday at Pavo Real Recreation Center, said he was going to cast a straight Democratic ticket.

"I'm going to double-check the ballot to make sure it wasn't changed," he said.

El Paso Democratic Party lawyer Tom Diamond said the party received just five complaints from voters Tuesday.

"We are keeping a close eye on it, but we think the problem is limited to a couple of machines," he said.

Northeast El Paso voter Adam Vargas said that he voted for some Democrats and some Republicans.

"I think Perry has done a good job," said Vargas, 57. "The other candidates have not done much to attract my vote."

(Contributed by AP)