AUSTIN - Texas voters on Tuesday passed a proposition limiting the government's eminent domain powers and another creating a fund for more top-tier research universities, along with nine other constitutional amendments on the ballot.
Proposition 11 - the eminent domain amendment supported by the Texas Farm Bureau, Gov. Rick Perry and Perry's Republican rival, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison - had 81 percent of the vote favoring it and 19 percent against, with nearly 80 percent of all precincts reporting.
A proposition to guarantee public access to beaches and another to help build veterans hospitals also sailed to passage.
Those were the highest-profile propositions in a low-key statewide election.
Only spotty opposition emerged to any of the proposed amendments.
Proposition 4 aims to create a national research university fund out of $500 million in existing state money.