No Suspense Politics
Wendy Davis attacks already underway: The new Texas governor candidate's real challenge
After months ducking and dodging the question, State Sen. Wendy Davis (finally) formally announced that she will be running for governor of Texas. Of course, the rumor mills been churning for weeks and weeks — and the Associated Press published reports that Davis was officially launching her campaign last week.
The world (and her Republican opponent, Greg Abbott) has had months to prepare for this moment. In fact, the attacks against Davis have already kicked into full gear.
AP reports that an anti-abortion group is running bilingual attack ads in markets along the Texas border. Meanwhile, Abbott is buying up air time for his brand new "Preserve Texas" video, in which he's fishing and shooting rifles (which, we note, he handles pretty well).
There are even polls that put Davis and Abbott within eight percentage points of each other. Did we mention that she just announced she was running Thursday afternoon?
Davis became a household name after a 10-hour filibuster at the State Capitol to kill one of the strictest abortion bills in the country. (The bill eventually passed in a special legislative session.) She took the podium at the Haltom City high school coliseum near Fort Worth where she earned her diploma 32 years ago and opened her speech with these words:
We’re here because we care about Texas. We’re here because we care about Texans. And we’re here because we believe it’s time to give all Texans a voice in their future and a place in Texas’ future.
After many more quote-worthy lines about Texas and Texans, Davis closed with the words everyone wanted to hear:
Texas has always been a promise — the promise that where you start has nothing to do with how far you can come. Our future is brightest when it's lit by everyone's star. And that's why, today, I'm proud to announce my candidacy to be the 48th governor of this great state.