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By 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, both Democratic candidate Chris Bell and Independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn conceded the gubernatorial election to Gov. Rick Perry. Independent candidate Kinky Friedman refused to concede, instead saying he was "ready to form a shadow government."
At 2 a.m. Wednesday, with 95 percent of precincts reporting, Gov. Rick Perry led with 39 percent of the vote. Bell and Strayhorn followed with 30 percent and 18 percent, respectively. Friedman held firm, refusing to yield with 12 percent of the vote. Libertarian candidate James Werner took a paltry 0.6 percent.
Bell conceded shortly before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, after being announced on stage by his 8-year-old son.
"It has been a long, hard battle, and one I will always believe has been worth fighting," Bell said, speaking from Houston's InterContinental Hotel.
Bell asked state leaders to look to the future and leave partisan politics where it belongs: in the election.
"Partisanship is not leadership. Partisanship may result in a successful election, but it will never result in a successful state or country," Bell said.
The future of the Democratic Party does not lie with any one victory or loss, but is a steady struggle for long-term goals, he said.
Strayhorn spoke to an eager audience at the Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin Tuesday night. She spent the night with her family watching election results in one of the hotel's suites and was joined at the podium by her husband, her sons and three of her six granddaughters.
She graciously accepted the loss and thanked all of her supporters, calling them her family.
"We made a strong showing for the Independent party, but not the strong showing we needed," Strayhorn said. "We focused on the issues that mattered. Putting Texans first and education, education, education."
Strayhorn then said she looks forward to many more years of watching out for Texas. Strayhorn has served as Texas comptroller since 1998.
"I will continue to be one tough grandma watching out for our most precious resource: our children," Strayhorn said.
From his home Tuesday night, Werner said the election played an important role in increasing visibility for the Libertarian party.
"This year's results show that hard work has an effect," he said.
Perry accepted the candidates' concessions as he addressed supporters at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. Joined on stage with members of his family and newly elected Republican heads of the state's departments, he agreed with Bell's message, saying it was time to put partisanship behind them.
"Texas is better when we all work together," Perry said. "And the fact of the matter is, no party controls the government, it belongs to the people."
Partisanship played a definite role in Perry's victory, said UT assistant government professor Sean Theriault.
"Rick Perry won because there are more Republicans in Texas than Democrats," he said.
In the weeks prior to Tuesday's election, Perry campaigned on his record in office and counted on the support of Republican voters to carry him to victory. Campaign ads championed his efforts on border security and the economy, including the creation of 600,000 new jobs in three years.
In the last month of the election, the incumbent aired attack ads against Bell titled "Sharks" and "The Tax Man Cometh." His target was a bit surprising considering that early election polls predicted a November showdown between Perry and Strayhorn, not between Perry and Bell.
The crowded race ultimately benefitted Perry, because the other candidates failed to articulate views that appealed to the moderate voters who would determine the outcome, Theriault said.
"Everyone was just trying to get back to their base constituency, just trying to make sure they turned out," he said. "[Perry] only needed to go back to the base, to rely on those core Republican voters and make sure they turned out."
The results were a little surprising considering the strength of the economy and a president from the same state, Theriault said.
"If he finishes with less than 45 percent, it says he doesn't have much of a mandate and he's pretty unpopular," he said.
Perry said he's humbled by the prospect of becoming the longest-serving governor in Texas history.
"Today's victory must be about preparing for tomorrow's Texas," Perry shouted at the end of his victory speech. "This campaign is over, but our work has just begun."
Additional reporting by Laura Blewitt, M.T. Elliott, Ricardo Lozano and Carter Wilson.
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