Published: March 4, 2010
Houston, Texas (03-02-2010 – Pakistan Chronicle Report): Despite tremendous campaign by business magnate Farouk Shami, Former Houston Mayor Bill White defeated six other candidates this past Tuesday to become the Democratic nominee for Texas governor. According to political pundits, Bill White has given his party the best hope in years at winning the chief executive post.
In the GOP race, at the time of this report with a handful of precincts reporting and nearly 650,000 Republican votes counted, Perry was ahead with 52.5% of the vote to Hutchison's 31% and Medina 17%.
With only 519 of 8,380 Precincts (6.19%), it was determined that no other candidate will able to surpass Bill White in Democratic Party. In early voting, White got 181,171 (75.54%), while second position Farouk Shami got 29,047 (12.11%). When Bill White was declared, Bill White had 189,488 (75.59%) votes and Farouk Shami 30,450 (12.14%).
In another highly talked about contest, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (Incumbent) was wining comfortably with 9,016 (69.89%) votes versus Jarvis Johnson 3,347 (25.94%) and Sean Roberts 536 (4.15%).
Former City Councilperson Gordon Quan with 23,607 (82.66%) won against Ahmad Hassan 4,953 (17.34%), to vie for the Harris County Judge position and will stand against Judge Ed Emmet in November 2010 General Elections.
Bill White, a well-funded businessman who made a name for himself with his city's response to the Hurricane Katrina evacuation, will face the winner of the Republican primary in the November general election.
Gov. Rick Perry, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and GOP activist Debra Medina are vying for the Republican nomination in a hard-hitting primary that largely overshadowed the Democratic race. Perry had an early lead early returns trickled in Tuesday. It appeared that the GOP gubernatorial primary was driving much of the early turnout. Sixty-two percent of the early ballots cast were in the Republican primary.
White had nearly 76 percent of the vote with a handful of precincts reporting to defeat wealthy Houston hair-care magnate Farouk Shami and five other lesser-known candidates.
White said he didn't feel at a disadvantage with so much attention paid to the Republicans and spent the time listening to voters. He aired television ads introducing himself to a statewide audience and generally kept his campaign on a positive path.
Perry and Hutchison, meanwhile, frequently traded barbs. Perry pushed an anti-Washington theme, casting Hutchinson as part of a bid-spending crowd in the nation's capital. Hutchison accused Perry of becoming arrogant, allowing cronies to invade state government and ignoring looming state problems.
Republicans have held the governorship since George W. Bush took over in 1995 after defeating Democrat Ann Richards. Perry ascended to governor from lieutenant governor in December 2000, when Bush resigned to become president, and has held the office ever since.
Democrats have been looking for an avenue back into statewide power, and many see White as that chance with his money to spend on a big race and his power base in Houston, the state's largest city.
Businessman Tom Schieffer dropped out of the Democratic race for governor last fall and threw his support behind White, who switched from running for U.S. Senate.
Hutchison had said she would leave the Senate by the end of 2009 to concentrate on the governor's race, but she hasn't yet resigned. She said she had to stay and fight the Democrats' health care plan.
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