In 1983, Governor Mark White appointed Rylander to the State Board of Insurance, where she served until resigning in 1986 to unsuccessfully challenge veteran Democratic congressman, J. J. Pickle of Austin,[1] a longtime friend and political ally of Lyndon B. Johnson.

As Carole Keeton Rylander, she won election to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1994[1] by beating Democratic incumbent Mary Scott Nabers, an Ann W. Richards appointee, by almost 300,000 votes.

In 1998, Keeton entered the open race to succeed outgoing Democratic Comptroller John Sharp of Victoria, who was seeking the lieutenant governorship.

The tax status of Ethical Societies as religious organizations has been upheld in court cases in Washington, D.C. (1957), and in Austin, Texas (2003).

The Texas State Appeals Court said of the challenge by then state comptroller Keeton, "the Comptroller's test [requiring a group to demonstrate its belief in a Supreme Being] fails to include the whole range of belief systems that may, in our diverse and pluralistic society, merit the First Amendment's protection.

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.

[6][7] Soon after the 2002 election, Keeton began publicly feuding with Governor Perry over what she saw as his inability to provide leadership on issues such as school finance and government spending.

[citation needed] On May 9, 2006, Keeton turned in 223,000 voter signatures to the office of Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams.

On June 22, 2006, Texas Secretary of State Roger B. Williams declared that only 108,512 signatures on her petition were valid, about 35,000 less than Friedman's count.

In her campaigns for school board and mayor, Keeton was not identified by partisan affiliation since those posts are elected on a nonpartisan basis.