On May 9, gubernatorial candidate Carole Strayhorn turned in 223,000 signatures to meet the Texas independent petition requirement. She needed 45,253 valid signatures. She appears to have collected more signatures than any previous independent gubernatorial candidate in history.
The previous record (for independent gubernatorial candidates) was the 202,000 signatures in California collected for Mel Mason, Socialist Workers Party candidate for Governor in 1982, who was using the independent petition method. He needed 113,617 valid, but after California elections officials checked the petition, he was told he didn’t have enough valid.
Very impressive. I’d be interested in the total $ spent to obtain this # of signatures. Also, we will see if the curse of Mel Mason doesn’t come back to haunt Strayhorn’s petition. I would be surprised if she does not have a high attrition rate in terms of getting her signatures validated.