HOUSTON  -- Mike Huckabee brought his longshot candidacy to Houston on Friday night, adding his signature to a “fair tax” petition central to his tax reform plan that would eliminate federal withholding taxes in exchange for a consumption sales tax.

“It’s clearly the most effective economic stimulus package we could have,” he told reporters before addressing a Harris County GOP Reagan Day dinner.

He also reiterated his insistence not to bow out of the race before McCain secures the 1,191 delegates needed to become the party’s nominee.

“Nobody has that yet,” he said. “In something that really matters, you play it to the very end.”

Overall, McCain has 939 delegates to Huckabee’s 245.

Huckabee’s intense push in Texas has him scheduled for stops

Saturday in Laredo, College Station and Austin. He’s to return Sunday to Houston, then hit the Dallas area. Monday he’s in Dallas, Abilene, Midland, San Antonio and back to Houston.

At a Friday morning rally in Lubbock, Huckabee played a bass guitar with a band for about 300 supporters, then shared his message of tax reform and conservative values.

Huckabee said he hopes that by winning the Texas primary Tuesday, he will keep McCain from getting the delegates required to become the GOP presidential candidate. Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island also have primaries Tuesday.

“It’s obvious that there’s some question marks about just how many delegates there are. What we do know is if we can win Texas next week, it probably keeps this thing going, and that’s what we’re counting on,” said Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister.

Huckabee said that’s why he has been campaigning heavily through Texas, where social conservatives make up the bulk of the Republican primary voters. Huckabee opposes abortion, gay marriage, an assault-weapons ban and an immediate removal of troops from Iraq.

“It’s just very important for us to make sure that conservatives and pro-life, pro-family people who want strong protection at the borders, who really do want to see this country have a policy that reflects, I think, the conservative values not just in Texas but America—that we have that for the whole Republican party,” he said.