Family

Carole Stewart Keeton was born September 13, 1939 in Austin. She is the second child and only daughter of Werdner Page Keeton and Madge Anna Stewart. Strayhorn's first marriage was to attorney Barr McClellan, whom she divorced in 1978 during her first term as mayor. In 1983, she married Curtis H. (Hill) Rylander; that marriage ended in divorce in 1995. She married high school sweetheart Ed Strayhorn in 2003. Strayhorn told reporters that Ed Strayhorn proposed to her while both were attending the University of Texas, but her parents thought she was too young to get married. September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Werdner Page Keeton (born in McCoy, Texas, August 22, 1909, died January 10, 1999) graduated first in his class at the University of Texas School of Law in 1931 and joined the University of Texas law faculty the following year at the age of 23. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Early political career

As Carole Keeton McClellan, she served on the Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District (which doubled as the Board of Trustees of Austin Community College) from 1972 to 1977.. She was elected mayor of Austin in 1977 and held that post until 1983. As Carole Keeton Rylander, she won election to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1994.==Comptroller== In 1998, Strayhorn entered the open race to succeed outgoing [[Democratic Party . Facing off against Democratic political scion Paul Hobby, Strayhorn won by some 20,000 votes out of roughly 3.6 million votes cast. Austin Independent School District is a school district that is based in the city of Austin, Texas, United States. ... Austin Community College is a community college system consisting of seven campuses serving the central Texas city of Austin and counties of Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Blanco and Gillespie. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Texas Railroad Commission was a government agency created in the 1930s to regulate the petroleum industry in the state of Texas. ...

Gubernatorial campaign

Soon after the 2002 election, Strayhorn began publicly feuding with Governor Perry over what she sees as his inabilility to provide leadership on issues such as school finance and government spending. She has been extremely vocal about Perry's support for privately-financed large-scale road projects. She calls Perry "a weak leadin', ethics ignorin', pointin' the finger at everyone blamin', special session callin', public school slashin', slush fund spendin', toll road buildin', special interest panderin', rainy day fund raidin', fee increasin', no property tax cuttin', promise breakin', do nothin' phony conservative."

Strayhorn tried to have herself listed on the gubernatorial ballot as "Carole Keeton 'Grandma' Strayhorn", claiming that "Grandma" was a common nickname for her. Strayhorn lost the election, receiving 18% of the votes, and placing third in the five-way race.==Partisan affiliations== In her campaigns for school board, college board, and mayor, Strayhorn was not identified by partisan affiliation since those posts are elected on a nonpartisan basis. Strayhorn was a Democrat until the mid-1980s. Strayhorn switched parties and became a Republican in 1986.Then she desided to switch to an Independent.