Mayor Bill White will enter the race for governor. It was quite obvious, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison not going to step down, and that would mean he would have to wait until 2013 when she is up for re-election. With a paid staff in the Metroplex, Austin, San Antonio and the Valley, he would have to figure out how to better utilize them if he decided run a two year campaign or do the inevitable lay them off. I am pretty sure that was not a decision he would like to make. It was a no brainier, besides people were already asking him to do the switch.
Along with Tom Schieffer’s move to drop out and White’s move, the dynamics changes dramatically. White will now face Kinky Friedman, business owner Farouk Shami, and little known teacher Felix Alvarado in the primary. During White’s announcement, Hank Gilbert announced he too would drop out, White now has to beat out three contenders. In an interesting move on Gilbert’s part, unlike Schieffer who dropped out for White, Gilbert threw his support for Shami.
Can White win? The answer is yes. Gov. Rick Perry is vulnerable and the Republican Party of Texas knows it. They have already started attacking White the moment he announce he was considering running for governor. They are already using Gilbert’s endorsement against White.
Considering Gilbert the lowest number, .3%, out of all the Democratic candidates in a hypothetical matchup against both GOP in the inaugural University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, the GOP doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
Bill White announcement to run for governor is exciting and I can’t wait to help turn Texas blue.
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Bill White’s announcement for governor
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