Sen. Wendy Davis Announces Run for Governour

cornflake · Oct 4, 2013

As expected, Davis announced today she will indeed run for governour of Texas.

Wendy Davis burst onto the political scene in pink tennis shoes last June. But as the Democrat announced her campaign for Texas governor on Thursday, she’ll need some pretty rugged hiking boots to climb the uphill political path ahead of her...

Davis did not mention abortion at all in remarks announcing her candidacy Thursday, focusing instead on her first filibuster earlier in her career -- on education issues.
"Texas deserves a leader who understands that making education a priority creates good jobs for Texans and keeps Texas on top," she said...

It’s been nearly two decades since Texas last elected a Democratic governor, and it’s a state that votes reliably Republican where President Barack Obama lost by 16 points. The last gubernatorial race touted to Perry as another moderate Democrat, former Houston Mayor Bill White, lost handily in 2010 by 13 points.

Those close to Davis acknowledge she begins as the underdog, but point out that’s never stopped her before. She had tough fights in her two state Senate races in a district even Republicans describe as GOP-leaning. She fought against a partisan gerrymander of her district in 2011, and won re-election after she was heavily targeted by the GOP in 2012.

And moving beyond just her political biography, she has a compelling personal story. A single teen mother who grew up in a Texas trailer park, worked her way through community college and eventually Texas Christian University, went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and returned to Fort Worth to practice law.

Her new webpage is here - kind of nicely I think, the donation choices include small amounts of $5, $10, etc. I've seen other politician pages that start the buttons at $25 and hide the 'other amount' field.

blacbird · Oct 4, 2013

First, it's not "governour". It's Governor.

This is the United States of America. More pertinently, this here is Texas.

Given that latter condition, she's gonna get crushed.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy she's running. She might get some traction against the Textablishment. But she's gonnar get crushed. Any other Democrat would, too.

caw

dfwtinman · Oct 4, 2013

Well, I plan to be involved in her campaign , and yes she will have a very hard time. But it's a battle worth fighting
http://wfaa.mlnwap.com/article.html#!/16882/d20448b968d6242b6a788d4220768464

Michael Wolfe · Oct 4, 2013

Blacbird is right. The only chance I see for Davis is some sort of epic collapse once the campaign starts, a la Clayton Williams when he lost to Ann Richards in 1990. Williams was leading by a wide margin, but then had some awful gaffes (including a rape joke), and he ended up losing (barely).

Williebee · Oct 4, 2013

blacbird said:
First, it's not "governour". ~~It's Governor.~~

This is the United States of America. More pertinently, this here is Texas. It's Gub'ner.

There ya' go.

Just for the record, it's still summer and they're still in a drought in my hometown in West Texas.

mirandashell · Oct 4, 2013

She sounds like a very strong woman. All the best to her.

regdog · Oct 4, 2013

Zoombie · Oct 4, 2013

I hope she kicks ass. Even if she loses, you can still kick ass. And, note, kick ass AND lose decorously.

Though, I do hope she kicks ass and wins...

Filigree · Oct 4, 2013

The problem with Texas is that the Republican/conservative districts have been cleverly gerrymandered to Republican advantage. Davis and her supporters are going to need massive leverage to counter the district advantage and potential election fraud. Richards got this chance in 1990, but Texas conservatives have doubled down a lot more since then. They elected Cruz, Gohmert, and Perry, after all. In my own Texas family, I have otherwise-rational folks who will deny that 2+2=4, if Obama said it first.

dfwtinman · Oct 4, 2013

Probably ill-advised to disclose this, but I was Ann Richard's campaign lawyer when she ran for governor. I worked in the Austin office of a Dallas-based firm then. Interesting times. Ann had no chance. But, Claytie was rather helpful to her cause.

benbradley · Oct 4, 2013

I recall the 60 Minutes interview with Ann Richards, and of course her famous DNC speech.

Looking up the story of her reelection attempt reminds me of TV actor turned Georgia congressman Ben Jones who wrote in his bio about getting elected to Congress, but then the district boundaries changed and he decided to run against Newt Gingrich even knowing that he would lose. It seems he quite enjoyed opposing Newt.

Full disclosure (not that this means anything), I've shaken hands with Ben Jones.

Roxxsmom · Oct 4, 2013

Filigree said:
The problem with Texas is that the Republican/conservative districts have been cleverly gerrymandered to Republican advantage. Davis and her supporters are going to need massive leverage to counter the district advantage and potential election fraud. Richards got this chance in 1990, but Texas conservatives have doubled down a lot more since then. They elected Cruz, Gohmert, and Perry, after all. In my own Texas family, I have otherwise-rational folks who will deny that 2+2=4, if Obama said it first.

So are governors elected by district in Texas, rather than by straight up popular vote percentages? The election fraud is certainly a real possibility, but isn't Texas just a very "red" state still? I recall reading somewhere that it's getting more purple of late, but I don't know enough about its demographics to say whether or not this is wishful thinking.

But CA is a very "blue" state, and we've had some Republican governors over the years. True, Arnie wasn't a "typical" Republican (more liberal on social issues, for instance), but Meg Whitman (who was pretty darned conservative) was running neck and neck with Brown before that whole housekeeper scandal upset liberals and conservatives alike, albeit for different reasons.

A lot of how someone does is down to who actually turns up to vote. Unfortunately, Texas has passed some laws recently to make it harder for some people in the traditionally "blue" demographic.

blacbird · Oct 4, 2013

Districts (and therefore gerrymandering) don't apply to the statewide Texas gubernatorial election, so you can forget about that. But Texas is today a heavily Republican state, overall. North and west of Austin, Democrats are an endangered species.

caw

cornflake · Oct 4, 2013

In the campaign's first 24 hours, she raised about $500,000. I don't know what the other guy has in his chest but I believe she was an Emily's List benefactor from way back and presumably she'll be able to raise (more than she got the last couple months) off the filibuster or she wouldn't have tried this.

You never know.

dfwtinman · Oct 5, 2013

cornflake said:
In the campaign's first 24 hours, she raised about $500,000. I don't know what the other guy has in his chest but I believe she was an Emily's List benefactor from way back and presumably she'll be able to raise (more than she got the last couple months) off the filibuster or she wouldn't have tried this.

You never know.

The likely GOP candidates are Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and former Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken (the "true conservative" here). Either at, she'll be out spent by a wide margin.

Just under a month ago I mentioned a Dallas Morning News article comparing the funding of Davis to Abbott. Quite an interesting article.

WENDY DAVIS
Contributors: 25,683
Donations: $1.4 million
Those giving $5,000 or more: 22
Total from large donations: $316,400 (22 percent of total from 0.09 percent of donors)
Average contribution: $55
Top donors:
— Sid Bass, Fort Worth investor: $100,000
— Annie’s List, Democratic women’s committee: $50,000
— Lisa Blue, Dallas trial attorney: $10,000
— Lee Fikes, Dallas oilman: $10,000
— Marguerite Hoffman, Dallas art collector: $10,000
— Deedie Rose, Dallas Museum of Arts board chairwoman: $10,000

GREG ABBOTT
Contributors: 3.991
Donations: $5.8 million
Those giving $5,000 or more: 208
Total from large donations: $5.2 million (90 percent of total contributions from 5 percent of donors)
Average contribution: $1,451
Top donors:
— Harold Simmons, Contran Corp, Dallas: $150,000
— Republican State Leadership PAC: $100,000
— Lee Bass, Fort Worth investor: $100,000
— Alice Walton, Wal-Mart heiress: $100,000
— T. Boone Pickens, BP Capital, Dallas: $100,000
— Robert C. McNair, Houston Texans owner: $100,000

These numbers Here’s how their donations between June 17 and Aug. 5, the most recent available in campaign finance filings with the state.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/state-politics/20130909-comparing-campaign-contributions-for-potential-governor-rivals-greg-abbott-wendy-davis.ece

Incidentally, for reasons Others may applaud, but Texans will likely deplore, my personal opinion is that her kick off slogan: "Less Lone More Star is a poor choice." I was kind of shocked to see the splashed across the front page of the Dallas News. In my estimation, the word "Lone" is of far more cultural significance than the "Star." But we shall see.

cornflake · Oct 5, 2013

Well, now she's got at least $2 million - and, I'd wager, a much larger prospective donor pool than he does. Emily's already featuring her, she can tap NARAL donors, PP, etc., etc.

She can also likely count on much bigger guns campaigning for her than he can, which can get her money from places he has no shot at mining.

He presumably has plenty of rich backers but her net is wider. It's Texas, it may not matter, god knows, but these are people who elected Shrub and Perry, repeatedly. I'd say money might help.

GeekTells · Oct 5, 2013

I think Wendy has the best chance of any Dem to win in Texas in this cycle. That's not saying much, but it's something.

I think a lot depends on the medium-term reaction to recent GOP shenanigans in the state, particularly the reaction among women, latinos, and African-Americans, probably in that order.

Wendy Davis's ability to formulate, deliver, and control her message will be big, too.

The third biggest factor will be the role and perception of outside money. It will pour in from the outside in large numbers. The interference of outsiders and a massive influx of money from gun-control interests in Colorado either weren't enough to defeat the recent recall efforts or went so far as to hurt the Dems targeted in those recalls. The GOP in Texas will likely try to capitalize on similar sentiments when outside money pours into Wendy's campaign. That they will have some outside money, too, will be ignored by even moderate GOP members if they starting getting their Texas up.

I've watched the mess that is politics in my birth-state from afar with a mixture of shock and sadness. I'm pulling for Wendy Davis.

GeekTells · Oct 5, 2013

dfwtinman said:
Incidentally, for reasons Others may applaud, but Texans will likely deplore, my personal opinion is that her kick off slogan: "Less Lone More Star is a poor choice." I was kind of shocked to see the splashed across the front page of the Dallas News. In my estimation, the word "Lone" is of far more cultural significance than the "Star." But we shall see.

I agree with your assessment, dfwtinman. I hope we're both wrong.

K.B. Parker · Oct 5, 2013

I think it's clear that she is not only facing up an uphill battle (and by uphill battle I mean a fucking mountain climbing to the top of heaven), but I really believe she's going to win. I would honestly bet a million dollars on it (If I had a million dollars), and I know I have no facts to back up my claim, but let's just call it intuition.

dfwtinman · Oct 5, 2013

GeekTells said:
I agree with your assessment, dfwtinman. I hope we're both wrong.

So do I! Running for a statewide office is a big step up. So important not to make early missteps and end up off message.

But, Wendy has one secret weapon that may be under-estimated, even among supporters. In this moment of great political anxiety, she is perfectly cast in the role of ~~Mr. Smith~~Ms. Davis Goes to ~~Washington~~Austin.

Or, maybe it's her pink shoes. Within the last 2 weeks, my firm sponsored a table for the Women's Legal Initiative (Women Lawyers) and Wendy was the featured speaker. She auctioned off a signed pair of her pink shoes. One of my partners won the bidding at $1,000, a birthday present for her daughter. What a cool keepsake if she wins. This time or the next or the next.

And her chief rival, Texas AG Greg Abbott, made a big misstep within the last few days. After bragging for years how he takes on the Feds & Eric Holder at every step, he recently and inexplicably joined Holder's federal anti-trust lawsuit to block the pending American Airlines merger with U.S. Airways. Then he meekly dropped the suit saying AA has promised to keep it headquarters at DFW, and maintain it as a principle hub-- even though AA had already told the bankruptcy court it had never considered doing otherwise before Abbott sued. The timing smells of a back room deal as Abbott approaches a primary. Story here:
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/columnists/mark-davis/20131001-mark-davis-abbotts-convenient-reversal-on-american-merger.ece

rugcat · Oct 5, 2013

Money in politics is always a big deal. And crucial to raising money is the perception that you can win. As long as the perception is that she really doesn't have much of a chance, it will be very difficult to raise money. If she can change that perception to she really has a shot, money will pour in.

I hope that I'm wrong as well, but I really don't see that as a realistic possibility.

cornflake · Oct 5, 2013

rugcat said:
Money in politics is always a big deal. And crucial to raising money is the perception that you can win. As long as the perception is that she really doesn't have much of a chance, it will be very difficult to raise money. If she can change that perception to she really has a shot, money will pour in.

I hope that I'm wrong as well, but I really don't see that as a realistic possibility.

I think she'll have a much easier time because she can pull from outside Texas. There's less knowledge of the specifics of the race, more willingness to give just based on her, regardless of the specifics of the race, and, again, these are markets her opponent simply can't tap. I don't think $$ is going to be her problem.

Monkey · Oct 5, 2013

I'm in Texas, and I'll vote for her. So will my husband and his family.

Ketzel · Oct 5, 2013

An interesting CNN analysis: 8 Reasons Why Wendy Davis has a glimmer of hope

MarkEsq · Oct 5, 2013

Monkey said:
I'm in Texas, and I'll vote for her. So will my husband and his family.

Same here.

Sen. Wendy Davis Announces Run for Governour

practical experience, FTW

Cubic Zirconia in the rough

Jambo Bwana

Capeless, wingless, & yet I fly.

The Scavengers

Dragon of the Multiverse

Mildly Disturbing

Cubic Zirconia in the rough

It's a doggy dog world

Beastly Fido

practical experience, FTW

Cubic Zirconia in the rough

practical experience, FTW

Tick tock...

Tick tock...

I've lost my mind

Cubic Zirconia in the rough

Lost in the Fog

practical experience, FTW

Is me.

Leaving on the 2:19

Clever title pending.