Reportedly, a formerly obscure Texas State Senator is planning to run for Governor in 2014. That would be Wendy Davis, now known internationally for her 10-hour filibuster of a wildly popular Texas bill that would protect the lives of unborn children after 20 weeks, the point at which they feel excruciating pain as they are violently killed through abortion. (The bill passed later in a second special session.)
Davis appears to have gambled on a statewide run because re-election to her own State Senate district was looking pretty dicey: in his 2010 re-election campaign, current pro-life Governor Rick Perry won 52.7% of the vote in Davisâ district; last year, Mitt Romney took 53.3%. After fielding a largely unknown challenger to Davis last year (who still drew 49% of the vote against her), pro-lifers are sure to rally behind Konni Burton.
But the Governorâs race wonât be much easier for Davis. Not only does Greg Abbott, the pro-life Republican frontrunner, hold a consistent lead in polling (polls from left-leaning PPP, by the way), but Davis, known best as a defender of brutal late-term abortion, will also have to tell Texans why she thinks itâs ok for Kermit Gosnell-style abortionists in Texas to dismember children who can feel pain in the womb. With polls in Texas and the country at large showing a healthy majorityâamong both women and men, every age group, every race; regardless of marital status, income, or religious attendance; and even a plurality of Davisâ own partyâfavor banning abortion after 20 weeks, Davis will have some âsplaininâ to do.