Comptroller
In 1998, Strayhorn entered the open race to succeed outgoing Democratic Comptroller John Sharp of Victoria, who was seeking the lieutenant governorship. Facing off against Democratic political scion Paul Hobby, the son of a former lieutenant governor and grandson of a former governor and lieutenant governor and a cabinet secretary, Strayhorn won by some 20,000 votes out of roughly 3.6 million votes cast.
Reelected in 2002, she led the statewide Republican ticket in terms of raw votes. As Carole Keeton Rylander, she drew more than one million votes more in 2002 than she had four years earlier and outpolled fellow Republican Rick Perry by some 246,000 votes even while Perry was easily dispatching Democrat Tony Sanchez of Laredo in the governor's race.
In 2004, Strayhorn revoked the tax exempt status of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Denison, Texas by claiming that the church is not a religion. This move was done because of the policies of the church's parent body, the Unitarian Universalist Association, which has no single set of religious teachings. The comptroller's office reversed its decision after the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the incident. This was the only occasion when any state attempted to deny the church's tax exemption.
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