Texas Senator Wendy Davis has announced to influential Democrats that she will run for governor of the Lone Star State in 2014.
Davis and her advisers have started telling powerful Dems that she will run, according to Politico. Although Davis' advisers did not confirm that she is definitely entering the race, Hector Nieto, Davis' consultant, said that she has made up her mind, and that she will disclose her plans next week.
"Sen. Davis has decided what she will do and she looks forward to making that announcement with her grass-roots supporters on Oct. 3," Nieto said.
The senator from Fort Worth gained national recognition in June when she filibustered against proposed abortion clinic regulations that would severely restrict access to abortion throughout the state. The 13-hour filibuster gained her national attention, catapulting her into the spotlight. Regardless, Texas Republicans ended up passing the law in a special session called by outgoing Republican Governor Rick Perry.
Despite the legislative loss, the 50-year-old senator garnered $1.2 million in funding in the six weeks following the 13-hour talkathon. According to Davis' campaign finance report, she raised most of her funding from small donors. She reported having 24,000 individual donors, who donated an average of $52. Almost 60 percent of the campaign funding came from within Texas. Her largest individual donor so far has been Fort Worth investor and businessman Sid Bass, who gave $100,000. Other donors include Houston attorney Laura Arnold, oil exec Lee Fikes and Marguerite Hoffman, wife of businessman and National Lampoon co-founder Robert Hoffman. Each gave $10,000 to her campaign.
Over the past few months, state and national Democrats have been cajoling Davis to run against Republican state Attorney General Greg Abbott, the presumptive GOP nominee for the gubernatorial race. So far, Abbott has amassed more than $20 million. She emailed her supporters this month that she would announce her plans for the gubernatorial election at the beginning of October.
So far, Davis has trailed Abbot in early polling for the race. If she does run, it will be the first open-seat governor's race in the state of Texas since 1990.