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Wendy Sets Oct. 3 Announcement Date;
Cornyn Campaign Announces Field Staff;
Perry Debates O’Malley at 5:30pm CT on CNN;
Two former Obama Admin SecDefs Appear at SMU;
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and Wife Expecting in Dec.
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Good evening from Austin.
Perhaps you will forgive our lateness when you see how detailed this email is.
Here’s the brief:
WENDY TO ANNOUNCE PLANS OCT. 3
Last night the Wendy Davis campaign announced, with a 9am embargo for today, that State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) would announce her political plans on Oct. 3.
The embargo didn’t hold. I don’t know who broke it first, but the dam broke and it was a flood within minutes. QR’s Harvey Kronberg weighed in (behind paywall) on embargo-gate here.
Here are two stories worth reading:
TT’s Jay Root reports:
Let the countdown begin: Sen. Wendy Davis has announced her announcement date.
The Fort Worth Democrat, eyeing a run for governor, said in an email release that she would break some news about her political future on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The Davis camp had embargoed the release until Wednesday at 9 a.m., meaning media outlets were asked not to publish anything before then. But word of the announcement date immediately began spreading on social media and the campaign lifted the embargo shortly before midnight.
“There’s one question I’ve gotten quite often in the past few months,” Davis wrote in the email. “I’ve heard it online, while I’m traveling around the state, from the media and in my Fort Worth neighborhood: What’s next?”
Davis invited supporters to sign up for an alert so they can be “among the first know” what she decides to do on the day of the announcement. A newly created page on her website, where people can sign up for the alerts, also bounced around Twitter on Tuesday night.
Davis became a political celebrity for Democrats when she helped temporarily derail a restrictive abortion bill with an hours-long filibuster in June. The spotlight on her has only grown since, and the long lead-up to her announcement date only ratchets up the anticipation and speculation about her plans.
Davis has said she will either run for re-election to her state Senate seat or for governor. If it’s not the latter, though, there will be a lot of disappointed Texas Democrats. They’ve been begging her to run for weeks, and she’s done nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.
“It would be a huge let-down for Democratic activists,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
Henson said he has seen no indication of a pull-back. In her speeches and fundraising blasts she has ripped state Republican leaders, including Gov. Rick Perry and a potential fall opponent, Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott.
The email itself, which has a picture of Davis next to a caption that asks, “What Will Wendy Do Next,” suggests she’s got bigger aspirations than a re-election race for a state Senate seat.
“It’s hard not to look at something like this and think she’s not going to run,” said Henson. “Certainly all the signs up to this point suggest she’s going to run. All the incentives have now lined up in a way that it really wouldn’t make sense if she didn’t.”
Reuters’ Marice Richter reports:
Democratic Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, whose June filibuster over proposed abortion restrictions captured national attention, said on Wednesday that she would announce on October 3 whether she would seek the governor’s office.
Davis, 50, would face an uphill battle to become the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas since 1994 against Republican state Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Governor Rick Perry is not seeking re-election.
“There’s one question I’ve gotten quite often in the past few months, Davis said in an email statement to supporters. “I’ve heard it online, while I’m traveling around the state, from the media, and in my Fort Worth neighborhood: What’s next?” Davis, who is also a candidate for her state Senate seat, told supporters: “I’m excited about what we can do together in the future.”
Supporters of Davis have urged her to run for governor since the nearly 11-hour Senate filibuster temporarily blocked passage of a measure to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, impose strict health and safety standards on clinics and limit the use of RU-486, often referred to as the abortion pill.
Davis was already considered a possible future candidate when she launched the filibuster wearing pink running shoes during a special session that was streamed live on websites across the United States.
The filibuster ended consideration of the bill in June, but Perry called another special session in July and the new restrictions were approved.
Speculation about Davis’ political intentions had been building for weeks after her campaign advisers suggested that an announcement was expected by Labor Day.
But Davis’ father, Jerry Russell, became critically ill after abdominal surgery. Russell, founder of a popular Fort Worth theater company, died on September 5.
Davis appeared at a few Washington, D.C., fund raisers during the summer, but pulled back from campaigning during her father’s illness.
The September issue of Vogue magazine featured Davis, and focused on her as a role model who rose from poverty to a prosperous career in law and politics. At 19, she was a divorced single mother living in a trailer park, but put herself through college and earned a law degree from Harvard.
In the days after the filibuster, Davis quickly raised about $1 million, but Abbott has a monumental lead in fund-raising with a war chest of nearly $25 million.
He reported contributions of almost $4.8 million in a July 15 campaign report, on top of about $21 million in cash on hand.
CORNYN CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES FIELD STAFF
The re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) announced some new hires yesterday:
Today Texans for Senator John Cornyn (TFSJC) announced five exciting additions to the campaign field staff. And after completing a training program in Austin last week, which included a presentation on Hispanic voter outreach by the Republican Party of Texas, these new team members are prepared to lead the effort to identify and mobilize supporters of Senator Cornyn all across the state.
“Texans will see an aggressive grassroots campaign with a presence in all 254 counties and in every city across the state,” said TFSJC Campaign Manager Brendan Steinhauser. “And through our Keep It Red campaign, we’re identifying supporters across the state and equipping them with the tools to fight President Obama’s Battleground Texas and the effort to turn Texas blue.”
For more information on TFSJC’s Keep It Red campaign, visit www.keepitred.com.
Vincent Kalkofen, Field Representative – Austin Vincent previously worked as Outreach Manager at Empower Texans, a leading conservative grassroots organization based in Austin. Vincent is a native of Weslaco, TX.
Lucia Rios, Field Representative – San Antonio Lucia has previously worked for the Greater San Antonio Area Chamber of Commerce, Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign, and U.S. Rep. Quico Canseco’s campaign. A Laredo native, Lucia is fluent in Spanish and graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio.
Alisa Merritt, Field Representative – Houston Alisa spent seven years working for Sen. Cornyn as a legislative aide in his Senate office. She is a native of Houston.
James Ross, Field Representative – Houston James has been very active with Young Republicans, leading Hispanic outreach efforts in Cameron County. A native of Brownsville and fluent in Spanish, James also serves in the Texas Army National Guard.
Amy Miller, Field Representative and Social Media Coordinator – Dallas/Fort Worth Amy combines legislative experience with grassroots activism and advanced social media skills. She is a graduate of Purdue University and received her J.D. from Michigan State University.
PERRY TO DEBATE O’MALLEY ON GUNS AND JOB CREATION ON CNN TODAY at 6:30PM ET /5:30PM CT
Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is in Maryland today, where he is touring the state’s largest gun manufacturer and meeting with Maryland Republican and business leaders as part of his effort to recruit businesses to Texas.
Tivo alert: Gov. Perry will debate Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD) on CNN’s Crossfire today at 6:30pm ET /5:30pm CT.
We will post the video later today.
FMR. SECDEFs GATES & PANETTA SPEAK AT SMU
Former Obama administration
NYT has the story.
U.S. REP. CASTRO & WIFE EXPECTING IN DECEMBER
MRT congratulates U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and his wife Anna on the news that they areexpecting their first child in December.
The SAEN reported on the news with a somewhat surprising headline.
MRT ON TV
Last night I appeared on KTBC Fox Austin to debate how to end gun violence with Democratic consultant Harold Cook. You can watch the six minute segment here.
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#txlege
– A third legal challenge has been filed against the state’s Voter ID law, this time from MALC and the state chapters of the NAACP.
– SAEN’s Peggy Fikac reports (behind paywall) on Democratic complaints over new voter registration rules in Texas.
– The Chron reports on questions raised over an increase in spending as part of Gov. Perry’s job “poaching” tour of the country.
2013 / 2014 / 2016:
– Buzzfeed’s Ruby Cramer reports that Gov. Perry will campaign for U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan (R-NJ), who is running in an October special election.
– Al Jazeera America reports on Democratic efforts to turn Texas blue.
– The Washington Post conducted a Q&A with Mayor Julian Castro (D-San Antonio) about Texas politics and 2016.
– Longtime Bexar County Judge Sid Harle, who just celebrated 25 years in office, is reportedly consideringa run for Bexar County District Attorney.
– TT reports that Attorney General Greg Abbott (R-TX) appears unlikely to file suit against the city of San Antonio’s newly-passed anti-discrimination ordinance.
Other stories of interest:
– Toyota just built its millionth pickup in Texas.
– Yahoo News reports that Occidental appears to be slowly moving from California to Texas, lured by “Texas talent.”
– Google is making a major investment in renewable energy in West Texas at a 240 megawatt wind farm near Amarillo.
– Minneapolis Star Tribune editor Nancy Barnes has been named the new editor of The Houston Chronicle.
