Texas

As expected, incumbent Texas Gov. Rick Perry won re-election in a heavily Republican state, but his victory was by no means a shoo-in. Perry only gathered 39 percent of the votes in a race that was split five ways between the incumbent, Democratic candidate Chris Bell, who came in second with 30 percent, two independent candidates — Kinky Friedman and state Comptroller Carol Strayhorn, and Libertar-ian candidate James Werner.

Democrats picked up a number of seats in the Texas House of Representatives, although not enough to take control of that body. Immediately after the election, however, emboldened House Democrats began making noises about trying to unseat the current Republican Speaker Tom Craddick.

The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas reported that many of the candidates supported through its IMPACT program were elected or re-elected. The IIAT said this year IMPACT was involved in 125 state legislative races and successfully supported 113 of those candidates. Some key agent winners include returning House members David Farabee (D-Wichita Falls), Tony Goolsby (R-Dallas), Brian McCall (R-Plano), Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and Craig Eiland (D-Galveston), son of IIAT member Elaine Eiland.

Texas Surplus Lines Association lobbyist Greg Hooser lamented at TSLA’s annual meeting, held in Austin shortly after the election, the loss of two ranking Republicans from the House of Representatives — Gene Seaman (R-Corpus Christi) and Bill Keffer (R-Dallas). Seaman was vice chair of the House Insurance Committee, and Keffer had been a member of the House Insurance Committee.