AUSTIN -- A judge decided Thursday that she doesn't have jurisdiction to hear independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn's lawsuit alleging the state should allow her to list "Grandma" as part of the name of the official ballot.

Judge Suzanne Covington questioned lawyers for Strayhorn and the Texas secretary of state before her decision, and she drew laughs in court when she asked what would prevent her from requesting that she be listed on the ballot as Suzanne "Best Judge in the Land" Covington.

It wasn't immediately clear what Strayhorn would do next.

Strayhorn sued Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams this month in her attempt to have "Grandma" listed on the Nov. 7 ballot. Williams has ruled that "Grandma" is a slogan, not a nickname permitted on the ballot.

Her lawyers argued earlier Thursday that it's the duty of the Texas secretary of state to accept the candidate's request to list "Grandma." But then attorneys for the state said the civil state district court does not even have jurisdiction.

Strayhorn's attorney, Roy Minton, alleged in the lawsuit that Williams denied Strayhorn the right to have her nickname on the ballot as provided for by the Texas Election Code. Minton stated that the word "Grandma" has never been a slogan. Minton has said that Strayhorn began using the name when she became a grandmother in 1994.

The secretary of state said he took several factors into account in deciding Strayhorn's ballot name request. He noted that Strayhorn has never appeared on an election ballot under the name "Grandma" and that her declaration of intent to run as an independent, as well as her petitions to get on the ballot, listed her as "Carole Keeton Strayhorn."

Williams did allow independent candidate Kinky Friedman to be listed as Richard "Kinky" Friedman on the ballot.

Strayhorn and Friedman are trying to oust Republican Gov. Rick Perry and become the first independent to be elected Texas governor since Sam Houston in 1859.

Democrat Chris Bell and Libertarian James Werner also are running.