White To Run For TX GOV
By Reid Wilson
Houston Mayor Bill White (D) will announce today he is running for GOV next year, giving Dems a top recruit in a state they haven't won for 20 years.
White's decision comes after Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) decided against resigning her post prior to the state's Mar. '10 primary. White had planned to run for the seat once Hutchison stepped down.
Now, White will likely face the winner of what promises to be a bloody primary between Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry (R).
White has to make it past a few lesser-known Dem candidates (and Kinky Friedman), but the TX Dem establishment is expected to quickly coalesce around his candidacy. What's more, he already has the money to compete statewide; White has nearly $4.2M in the bank from his SEN bid, and TX's liberal campaign finance laws will make it possible for him to compete with either Hutchison or Perry.
No Dem has won any statewide office in TX since '94, and no Dem has won the governorship since Ann Richards in '90. As Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey notes, no big-city mayor has ever been elected governor (That holds true in many states: Being mayor is not a great way to take the state's top job. Just ask every NYC mayor who's ever run for higher office).
But White will give Dems a chance, and in a state where demographics are rapidly shifting and where GOPers are fighting amongst themselves, the party could take advantage and pull a major upset.
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