Andrew White “on the brink” of announcing for Governor

We’ll know shortly, but it seems to me that if the answer was going to be “nah, I’m outta here” we wouldn’t be hearing pre-announcement teasers.

Andrew White

Houston entrepreneur Andrew White, a conservative Democrat and son of the late former Gov. Mark White, is close to announcing he will become a candidate for Texas governor.

Supporters and allies said Tuesday they expect White, 45, has all but decided to run against Republican Greg Abbott. They said they expect an announcement on his decision in early December.

Reached by phone, White told the Houston Chronicle he “is moving from contemplating to executing and preparing.” He said he would discuss further details in coming days.

[…]

White would be the first Democrat with at least some street cred to run in a year when Democratic officials have, so far, failed to announce a banner-carrier to run against Abbott.

Two other Democrats have announced — Dallas gay bar owner Jeffrey Payne and San Antonio businessman Tom Wakely — but they are both considered long shots with not enough name ID or funding support to win.

White would be a “next gen” candidate, younger than Abbott and most other gubernatorial candidates, with hopes that he could coalesce support from Democrats and moderate Republicans disgusted with the GOP leadership’s push to enact a bathroom bill, a ban on sanctuary cities and other controversial proposals that have drawn widespread protests — even from the business community that traditionally supports Republicans.

See here for the background. At this point, I’ll be surprised if White doesn’t file, which probably means that the other potential candidates will fade away. But maybe not – White has the name, and likely some decent fundraising chops, but he hasn’t exactly bowled over the base. He’d be a strong favorite against the candidates who are already in, but a Lupe Valdez or a Michael Sorrell or a Dwight Boykins would be a fair fight for the nomination. I wouldn’t mind that at all – let’s have a real debate about who and what we want on the ticket. Absent that, I’d advise Andrew White to take a page from Beto O’Rourke’s playbook and get out there and meet a bunch of voters. Listen to what people are saying, especially those who have been critical of his positions on reproductive choice and immigration and other issues. Otherwise, I fear we’ll go from a narrative of “Dems don’t have anyone running for Governor” to one of “Dems don’t have anyone they like running for Governor”. We could do without that.

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6 Responses to Andrew White “on the brink” of announcing for Governor

  1. neither here nor there says:

    Guess I will find out what a conservative Democrat is according to some people.

  2. Kris Overstreet says:

    So, yet another DINO running for statewide office… you know, like we’ve had almost without exception the last two decades, with the effect that the base stays home and the GOP racks up easy wins.

    Are Democrat elites just plain incapable of learning?

  3. Joel says:

    “Are Democrat elites just plain incapable of learning?”

    there aren’t any in texas (or anywhere?), i think is the problem.

  4. neither here nor there says:

    Now I know why Wendy did so poorly, she was DINO.

  5. Pingback: Lupe Valdez appears to be in for Governor as well – Off the Kuff

  6. neither here nor there says:

    Neither does not vote for people just because the last name is in Spanish, Cruz is one big example.

    Neither does not know much about Valdez but looks forward to finding out more about her. If she is like Sylvia Garcia then she does not get this vote. Or one could substitute Alvarado, Hernandez, or Walle.

    Neither always supported Rick Noriega.

    Neither has not decided whether to vote in Democratic or Republican primary, need to know where the action is.

    Neither is supporting Beto with money and Neither did send money to Doug Jones.

    Not sure Neither is supporting the so called ex-Colombian that is running for county judge. She tends to be evasive and not knowledgeable about local Latino politics.

    Neither will vote Straight Democrat in November 2018.

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