It’s official, there will be five candidates on the November ballot for governor:
From the SOS office:
Secretary Williams certifies independents for the November ballot
AUSTIN, TX — Secretary of State Roger Williams today notified candidates and minor parties who filed for a place on the general election ballot if they met the statutorily prescribed qualifications. By state law, candidates were required to submit an application for a place on the ballot accompanied by petitions with the required number of signatures.
“Texas has a process for verifying the eligibility of independent candidates for a place on the ballot and today we have finished that process,” Williams said. “Our method of verifying every signature is the most accurate, has been upheld by the courts and was done faster than in years past.”
Williams notified the campaigns of Richard Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn today that they had met the requirements for a place on the ballot in the upcoming gubernatorial election. Both Candidates exceeded the 45,540 signatures required by state law. After a preliminary review of the 170,258 petitions submitted by Mr. Friedman, Secretary Williams’ office has certified that 137,154 met the requirements. Similarly, Secretary Williams certified that 108,512 of the 222,514 signatures submitted by Ms. Strayhorn were valid signatures that met all statutory requirements.
In addition to the two gubernatorial candidates, five other candidates submitted applications as independents with Secretary William’s Office; including Robert Belt and Arthur W. Loux for U.S. Senator, Bob Hise for U.S. Representative District 3, Steve Stockman for U.S. Representative District 22 and Harold Pearson for State Representative District 17. None of these candidates met the state requirements for a place on the ballot, and therefore will not be certified by the state. The Green Party also applied for ballot access with the Secretary of State’s office but did not submit the appropriate number of signatures to qualify.
