AUSTIN, Texas, June 23 (UPI) -- A musician turned novelist and a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned independent are the first independents since Sam Houston to run for Texas governor.
The Texas Secretary of State certified the candidacies of Kinky Friedman and Carole Keeton Strayhorn Thursday, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
"Not one but two viable independent candidates have made the ballot for the first time in nearly 150 years," Friedman said. "This tells us what we've long suspected: the two-party system has failed our state. Only an independent candidate -- one who is not owned by special interests -- can restore Texas."
Strayhorn, now the state comptroller, said she is building a coalition of people from both political parties and independents who are ready to oppose "the mean-spirited regime" of Gov. Rick Perry.
Texas is a difficult state for independent candidates. Friedman and Strayhorn had to gather more than 100,000 valid signatures each to qualify for the November ballot.
Houston in 1859 was the last independent candidate for Texas governor. He won.
