White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s mother, TX Comptroller Carole Keeton “One Tough Grandma” Strayhorn, dropped out of the Republican Party and continue to challenge Rick Perry for governor of Texas as an Independent.
Strayhorn, was first elected as TX Comptroller of Public Accounts in 1998. Interesting, she is the mother members of the Bush Administration.
From her campaign web site:
Comptroller Strayhorn is the daughter of the late Page Keeton, the revered long-time Dean of the University of Texas Law School. He instilled in her at a very early age the importance of public service. She not only learned that lesson from her dad, she passed it on to her children. Her eldest son, Dr. Mark McClellan, is the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He previously served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Her twin sons, Brad McClellan and Dudley McClellan are both attorneys. Brad is the manager for his mother’s campaign for governor, and Dudley is Assistant General Counsel for the State Bar of Texas. Her youngest son, Scott McClellan, is Press Secretary to the President of the United States.
What does mean for the Republican Party? Will Scott McClellan try to talk mom out of running for gov? Did the GOP kick her out of the Party. The Houston Chronicle reported that Strayhorn is not willing to talk about rumors why she is running as independent.
Strayhorn … announced in June that she would challenge Perry for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. But last week she refused to dismiss speculation that she would run as an independent to avoid Perry’s strong popularity in the GOP primary.
But one has to wonder if she was kicked out of the GOP Party. Considering she is running as an independent and her popularity in TX, it is hard not spectuclate that her move will have a factor taking away Republican votes from Perry. And if the GOP did kick her out, they messed with the wrong woman. She certainly does deserve her title as “One Tough Grandma”.
This is still a developing story.