Governor’s race ready to ramp up

AUSTIN — If Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and Fort Worth state Sen. Wendy Davis aren’t household names by now, come the November general election, they should be.

With Tuesday’s primaries behind them, Abbott is poised to represent the Republican Party and Davis the Democratic Party.

Come November, Texans will choose their governor in the first election without an incumbent since Gov. Bill Clements chose not to run in 1990, paving the way for Gov. Ann Richards.

Davis is campaigning with detailed measures for proposals to move the state up the ranks in education.

Davis reported having $11 million cash on hand. Abbott has reported $30 million cash on hand. The high-dollar race will test Democrats’ meddle in Texas. Davis and a network of supporters will try to make Texas a politically contested state through Battleground Texas, a political action group that includes people who have worked in other states on behalf of President Barack Obama.

The money involved in the 2010 governor campaign pales in comparison to this year’s race. Bill White had $6.4 million 30 days before the primary in his 2010 Democratic run for governor. Gov. Rick Perry had $10.4 million cash on hand 30 days before the primary in 2010.

“I think the strength of the Abbott campaign is that he has been a state official for 15 years. And he has a $30 million war chest he can use in the general election,” Southern Methodist University political science professor Cal Jillson said. “He is the favorite; he is the one with the most experience and the most money.”

Jillson anticipated Abbott winning by 7 to 9 points. In a recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, Abbott had an 11 point lead.

Even so, Abbott is not as warm and natural a politician as Gov. Rick Perry, Jillson said.

Abbott apparently mis-stepped by campaigning with controversial rocker Ted Nugent. He highlighted Nugent’s support of gun rights, but Nugent had called Obama a “subhuman mongrel” and on a VH1 “Behind the Music: show admitted he had relations with an underage girl.

Nugent mildly apologized about making the Obama remark. Davis’ campaign attacked Abbott for days about his association with Nugent.

Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, said a chief Abbott advantage is having the “R” next to his name in a highly Republican voting state.

“Abbott’s principle political strengths are he is a careful, skilled and very intelligent politician who is unlikely to make too many major errors on the campaign trails,” Jones said, Nugent notwithstanding. “While he has been in office for quite some time, he has limited experience in the high-intensity, high-profile race.”

Abbott’s opponents in the primary were Miriam Martinez, SECEDE Kilgore and Lisa Fritsch. Davis was opposed by Ray Madrigal.

Davis, meanwhile, still has a bit of celebrity from her filibuster against abortion legislation in the summer of 2013. She also is running alongside state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, the Democratic lieutenant governor candidate. The female top ticket might appeal to female voters, Jillson said.

She also has the help of Battleground Texas, which is campaigning on behalf of all Democrats.

“It could be huge,” Democratic consultant Jason Stanford said.

Stanford said that getting Democrats who usually don’t vote to get out to the polls is a prime strategy.

“There are millions of Democrats out there who just don’t vote because we haven’t given them good reason to,” Stanford said. “Will it work in time? I don’t know. Will it work eventually? Yes.”

Abbott has built his campaign on plans such as a $300 million border security buffer in South Texas, getting $4 billion to $5 billion for transportation by rearranging money flows, and getting jobs to Texas with the help of improved tax structures.

Davis is campaigning heavily on education. She has plans to help get more teachers in Texas with student debt forgiveness, to increase access to prekindergarten education, and to offer students more opportunities to get college credit.

On her strong side, “Sen. Davis has a very compelling life story, is a very skilled politician, is extremely intelligent and is very charismatic. She has an ability to work a crowd and leave people with a positive feeling,” Jones said.

Davis might have been too slow to start, Austin government affairs lobbyist Bill Miller said.

“I think that Davis’ weakness is she didn’t take full advantage of the celebrity she had. … She is still trying to learn to be a good statewide candidate,” Miller said.

To face off with Abbott, she may need to go on the offensive, he said.

“She’ll improve every month. She is a quick study. She is an effective campaigner,” Miller said. “Her knives have got to be sharp for Abbott.”

Reprinted with permission from the San Angelo Standard-Times.