Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, who rose to prominence in June after an 11-hour filibuster against legislation that aimed to restrict abortion rights in the state, said Monday that she’s considering a run for governor.
“I’m working very hard to decide what my next steps will be,” Davis said at a luncheon at Washington D.C.’s National Press Club. “I can say with absolute certainty that I will run for one of two offices, either my state senate seat or the governor.”
Davis did not elaborate further, except to say that she will make that decision “hopefully in just the next couple of weeks.”
Davis, 50, has become a rising star in the Democratic party. She raised about $1 million in donations after her filibuster, with more than a quarter of those funds coming from out of state.
Her personal story–a teen, single mom who put herself through community college, then Harvard Law–resonates with, well, almost everyone.
The bill Davis rallied against eventually passed when Texas Governor Rick Perry called lawmakers back for a second special session and the legislation sailed through the Republican-controlled house and senate. Perry signed it into law in July.
“I do think in Texas people feel like we need a change from the very fractured, very partisan leadership that we’re seeing in our state,” Davis said Monday.
If Texas goes all red again in 2014, it will be the 20th consecutive year that its residents have elected only Republicans into statewide office. The last seat to go blue was Bob Bullock as lieutenant governor in 1994–the same year the state’s last Democratic Governor, Ann Richards (mother of Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards) lost her re-election bid against George W. Bush.
Current Governor Rick Perry announced earlier this year that he will not run for re-election. The presumed G.O.P. frontruner, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, is considered a formidable opponent with more than $20 million already in his war chest.
Erin Delmore