We’ve got Wendy. Now she needs some backup. As such, all eyes are now on Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, the candidate everyone wants for Lite Guv.
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte
Before state Sen. Wendy Davis was finished announcing her gubernatorial campaign, state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte was surrounded by well-wishers Thursday urging her to join the ticket as the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.
Van de Putte reveled in the attention while trying — with little success — to refocus the discussion on Davis, insisting she hasn’t made up her mind on running.
The crowd of about 200 Democrats gathered at the San Antonio Firefighters Banquet Hall had heard what the came to hear — Davis not-so-surprising announcement monitored via webcast from Haltom City — but they wanted more.
“Run, Leticia, run!” they chanted, even before Davis declared her intentions.
Yet, Van de Putte stuck to her own script, praising Davis for her Senate fights for education funding and women’s health care, before turning to her own quandary.
“I am seriously considering how I can serve my state. … Now that Wendy has announced, I’ll be looking at the analytics and the pathway. I’ve been having a real strong discussion with my family. It’s a lot to put them through,” she said. “It’s something we’ll be doing a lot of prayer over as well,” she said.
[…]
Asked if Davis has encouraged her to join the ticket, Van de Putte demurred, “Wendy calls me every day, yeah.”
And pressed for details about the timing of her decision, Van de Putte said, “it’ll be within the next 10 days to two weeks. People think I’m being coy, I’m not. It’s a lot to ask my family.”
Her family has been through a lot this past year, with the death of her father and an infant grandchild. Running statewide is a monumental task, and if Sen. Van de Putte’s husband and kids aren’t on board with the idea it will make a difficult task that much more difficult. Nonetheless, I and many other Democrats are hoping she takes the plunge. I can’t think of anyone I’d like to see at Wendy Davis’ side over the next thirteen months more than Sen. Van de Putte. Stace has more.
I just tweeted this post. Thanks for the tip on Dos Centavos. I wasn’t familiar with that blog but I just added it to my Texas blogs that I am following. It sounds like they will be paying close attention to Leticia’s candidacy if she runs. This Governor’s race is really getting exciting for us folks in “foreign states”, as Juanita Jean calls us.