Today Texans who cast their vote have sent a clear signal to the entrenched interests in Austin: Texans are ready for a new Governor.

Texans deserve a new Governor who is more interested in the future of Texas than his own political future.

Texans deserve a new Governor who is more interested in the jobs of all Texans than in preserving his own job.

Texans deserve a new Governor who will work harder to keep our kids in school than he does to keep running for office every single election.

Texans deserve a Governor who respects property rights when he is governing, and not just before re-election campaigns.

We deserve that in Texas.

As a non-partisan mayor, I have a track record of accountability and squeezing the most out of the taxpayer's dollar. We need that in Austin right now.

My family goes back, way back, generations in Texas. They settled this state when we were just a frontier. This is a place that carved a new identity, with people from all backgrounds, and I'll tell you what, we're stronger now than we've ever been, because we've shed the old stereotypes that kept people down, stereotypes based on ethnicity and gender. We're proud, whether you're a newcomer, or somebody who's been around here for a long time, we're proud of the Lone Star State. It's a place with big horizons and bigger dreams.

But high dropout rates and rising tuition cast a cloud, a shadow over our state's future. As Governor I'll work hard every day to make sure that all Texans have the technology, the education and the skills to compete for good jobs, jobs with a real future.

We are proud to be Texans. Nobody has a monopoly on Texas pride or Texas values. But we are not proud of an administration in Austin content to have nurses and other skilled workers imported from foreign countries, because they failed to educate our own citizens. We're tired of that.

I, my family and the people in this room, we respect Mr. Shami and others who cast their hats in the ring, running based on their visions for Texas. I'm proud to say that none of them were career politicians.

Now the voters have spoken and it's time for us to come together to get things done.

I want to thank the people of Houston, I want to thank the people of San Antonio, especially, and of all of Texas. Houston is where I've served these last six years as mayor, San Antonio is my hometown. In the places where you've lived most of your life, people know you the best. They've spoken with their ballots and expressed confidence today. I thank them. And I thank you, the people in this room, and thousands of volunteers and small donors from across the state who simply want a better Texas. Aren't you proud of what we've accomplished tonight?

Andrea and I and our family, we respect and we honor the hard-working staff and volunteers who have been part of this team. But our work is not through. Tonight, renew your commitment. We need to finish the job and that job will be finished in November.

Now a special word to those who challenged Rick Perry in the other primary, let me talk to them. We admire your courage. You've taken on a professional politician, he knows all the tricks of the trade. He's really experienced at the re-election business, that's his specialty. He's fueled by a torrent of money from the lobbyists and the special interests in Austin, and he knows how to manipulate emotions in order to win re-election. But I think we're catching up with Governor Perry.

We invite those who supported other candidates, including Independent and Republican voters, to join a winning team. On this team all are welcome. Here are our basic core values, see if this makes sense: we are committed to honesty and integrity in government. We are committed to competent government. We are committed to decentralized government and we understand that cities, counties, and school districts are often closer to the people than are the people in Austin. And we believe in accountable government, and it's time we returned accountability to Austin, don't you think?

When I'm Governor, all Texans, urban and rural, Democrat, Republican, and Independent, will be at the table when decisions are made. And I'll tell you what, we need your help in making sure we have that inclusive brand of leadership. Let me tell you what this election is about.

Governor Perry likes to divide this state into red and blue. One group versus another. Let me tell you what leadership is. Leadership is bringing people together on common ground so our state can move forward. That's what we're going to do in this election. Now let me tell you this. The career politicians, who fear going to work in the private sector, even though they celebrate the private sector, are going to cling to power with whatever tricks they may have up their sleeves. But we've seen them before. Is it okay if I give you a preview of them right now? This is what you can expect:

Rick Perry and his consultants and his insiders will take credit for all the good times in Texas. They'll say that they've created jobs when in fact they're being created by a lot of businesses in this state. They don't mind taking credit for somebody else's work. But they wont take responsibility for the fact that today there's almost one million Texans who are unemployed--and that's an all-time record number in our state. We need to do something about that, we need a governor who will take responsibility for the unemployment in this state.

You know what they'll do, they'll point fingers at Washington and talk about the alarming growth of government in Washington, so you won't notice the alarming growth in government in Austin. They'll talk about the massive amount of debt in Washington, which none of us agree with, in order to hide the fact that debt has almost doubled in Austin under Governor Perry. They'll think that you will not notice this.

Rick Perry and his consultants and insiders will blame others for failed immigration policies, while not taking any responsibility for those who have committed serious crimes who travel across the state--they're not just parachuted into the cities. They'll take no responsibility for that.

Governor Perry and his consultants will complain of the strings attached to federal funds, and believe me I hate those strings, and so do most Texans as well. But they'll try to emphasize that, rather than telling you about the fact that year after year every school district, every county, every city in this state has had more and more unfunded mandates and requirements piled on them from Austin. That's not right, that's not fair. We need to return local government to local citizens.

And for those who have used these tactics successfully before, and will try them again, then we have a message tonight. You can see it it's not just my opinion. You can read it on the ballot box and the total number of votes cast in the state of Texas in this gubernatorial primary, in the Democratic and Republican primary alike. People have spoken overwhelmingly about their desire to move Texas forward. We know now your tactics of divide and conquer. We understand about the tactic of distracting from the truth. Don't try to claim monopoly on Texas values. It is time we move this state forward.

A hundred and seventy-four years ago a lot of strong people declared independence on this day. Texas' independence. Those were tough times--indoor plumbing was not very well known--tough men and women settled along this frontier. Now we're stronger as a state because of the doors of opportunity that have been opened since that time we declared independence. But Texans from those earliest days, including my ancestors, had something in common. They all dreamed of each generation having more opportunity than the last. They all sacrificed for that goal. As Governor I want to work hard to make it so that every Texan, every young Texan, has more opportunities than people my age, and that we leave this state a better place than we found it. Shouldn't that be the goal of all Texans?

And on this night, Texas Independence Day, let's renew our vow to yet another Texas value. And it's an old value, that is worn, but it is true today as it was at the early days of the Republic. Our elected officials should be humble public servants, who use the power of the state to serve the people and not simply to perpetuate themselves in office.

Thank you all for being here, we're going to have fun. Texans are going to come together. Thank you and the other candidates, God bless Texas, and the people of this United States. Thank you very much.