CAN THE GOP HOLD ON TO THE GOVERNOR'S SEAT IN TEXAS?

Candidates for Texas governor face off in Dallas

WBCNEWS EXCLUSIVE POST DEBATE POLL:
INDEPENDENT KINKY FRIEDMAN, DEMOCRAT CHRIS BELL TAKING THE LEAD
41% FRIEDMAN, 37% BELL,
16% PERRY, 6% STRAYHORN

They talked about the issues: immigration, education and ethics in office. And they also criticized one another. The four front-running candidates for Texas governor faced off Friday night in a debate televised statewide and sponsored by Belo, WFAA TV Channel 8 In Dallas. On immigration: "Let the people who are here, the foreigners who want to work, they buy the card,and we do a criminal background check and then they can work in Texas," said independent candidate Kinky Friedman. "If we find an employer hiring illegals after that, we sock them with a $25,000 fine." "I want to crack down on employers," said Democrat Chris Bell. "If they wouldn't hire them, we wouldn't be having this debate." On property tax: "In a Strayhorn administration, we are going to have real property tax cuts, real pay raises for our underpaid, under-appreciated teachers, a fiscally responsible government," said independent candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn. "We are going to tell Texans the truth." And Rick Perry, the incumbent Republican, had this to say about transportation: "Our population is going to double by 2040. We're gonna have to build transportation infrastructure in this state," Perry said. "There is no one standing before you but me that has laid out a plan that is do-able in any sense of the imagination"