Wendy Davis is now officially a candidate for Texas governor. (Louis DeLuca/Staff photographer)
Update: Wendy Davis is officially in the race for governor.
The Fort Worth Democrat says Texas should be a state where leaders care about issues like education.
“Texas deserves a leader who understands that making education a priority creates good jobs and keeps Texas on top,” she said before about 1,000 people in Haltom City. “Texas deserves a leader who will fight this fight for the future of Texas. And for me, that fight is personal.”
She said the leadership in Austin is concerned about the residents who “write the big checks.”
Original item posted at 3:58 p.m.: At the Wiley G. Thomas Coliseum, where she received her high school diploma, Texas Sen. Wendy Davis is poised to entered the race for governor.
Organizers expect thousands to jam the arena. Davis is scheduled to speak shortly after 5 p.m.
Outside, a long line is wrapped around the building, but moving quickly.
A long line of supporters file into the Wiley G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City for Wendy Davis announcement that she'll run for governor (Gromer Jeffers Jr.)
Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, said it’s an exciting day for Texas.
“Wendy Davis will win,” he said. “What Texas likes to see are people they can identify with, people they can relate to and people who will fight for them,” he said. “Wendy Davis is all of that, unlike Greg Abbott, who will only fight for far right extremists.”
But Donna Flores, an anti-abortion activist from Fort Worth, said Davis is bad for Texas.
“She got a lot of popularity from the filibuster,” she said. “One filibuster doesn’t make a governor. In Texas we’re against abortion.”
Davis become a political celebrity after her 11-hour filibuster against an abortion-restriction bill. Her actions rejuvenated a battered Democratic Party that hasn’t elected a statewide candidate since 1994 and a governor since Ann Richards in 1990.
Davis is expected to have no major opposition in the Democratic primary. She’ll meet the winner of the March GOP primary between Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and former Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken.
I’ll have live updates on my Twitter feed, which you can follow here: