Williams Headed for Texas Victory : Politics: The maverick newcomer easily outpaces his GOP primary opponents. Ann Richards holds a narrow edge among the Democrats.

Clayton W. Williams, a freewheeling success in the business world and a fast learner in the political realm, took the lead Tuesday in early returns from the Texas Republican gubernatorial primary.

On the Democratic side, state Treasurer Ann Richards, bidding to become the state’s second woman governor was leading, while Atty. Gen. Jim Mattox and former governor Mark White were locked in a close battle for second.

Among the Republicans, railroad commissioner and ex-Democrat Kent Hance, former secretary of state Jack Raines and Dallas lawyer Tom Luce trailed far behind Williams.

With 1% of the precincts reporting, Williams had 58,465 votes, or 64%. Hance had 12,622, or 14%; Luce had 10,223, or 11%, and Raines had 9,308, or 10%.

In the Democratic primary, Richards had 44,331, or 42%; Maddox had 33,183, or 31%, and White had 25,544, or 24%.

Williams has so dominated the Republican race that for weeks the only question has been whether he could get the 50% of the vote he needs to avoid facing a runoff. On the Democratic side there have been two questions: which two of the candidates would square off in the April 10 runoff, and how much the nomination will be worth to the ultimate winner in view of the name calling and mudslinging that has pervaded the campaign.

The primary campaign was waged against the backdrop of a state still struggling to regain its economic footing after the energy bust of the late 1980s.

Even as Tuesday’s balloting took place, the Legislature was in the midst of a special session dealing with the state Supreme Court’s ruling that the financing arrangement for the public schools was unconstitutional. The system is now based on property tax, which means that funding varies wildly from district to district.

It was estimated that the treasury would have to find billions of dollars to comply with the court’s dictum on schools and with another court finding of overcrowding in the state prison system.

Despite these problems, all the gubernatorial candidates in both parties joined in voicing their opposition to any new revenue raising measures. Republican Hance, bidding for hardcore-conservative support, proposed a constitutional amendment banning establishment of a state income tax, intended to preserve Texas’ status as one of only eight states without such a levy.

Hance and Luce claimed they could get enough revenues from anticipated economic growth to meet future needs without new taxes. The other two Republican candidates, Rains and Williams, said they could solve the problem with more efficient management, with Williams pledging a hiring freeze on all state agencies except those dealing with education and law enforcement.

Among the Democrats, Mattox proposed a state lottery to raise extra funds without the pain of a tax increase, while Richards and White, echoing some of the Republican candidates, put their faith mainly in economic growth.

But if the candidates all sounded frugal about public financing, a number of them turned out to be big spenders when it came to their own campaign funds. Total expenditures in both parties are expected to run about $30 million, with Williams the leader in spending at about $8 million, including $6 million of his own money, mainly for television commercials.

Probably the most potent of Williams’ ads depicted a group of convicts swinging picks while Williams’ voice warned repeat drug offenders that as governor he would “introduce them to the joys of bustin’ rocks.”

On the Democratic side, the campaign centered on the fortunes of Richards. Aided by the national attention she received as the keynote speaker at the 1988 Democratic convention, Richards was the early front runner in the race. But her candidacy seemed to lack focus and was plagued by her miscues. Richards, a recovering alcoholic, was also hurt by her unwillingness to give a yes or no answer to questions about whether she had ever used illegal drugs.

Late in the campaign she took the offensive against her male rivals, attacking White for raising taxes while he was governor and for allegedly profiting from his service in that office, and accusing Mattox of accepting contributions from a developer with an unsavory background.