Fresh from completing three successful terms as Houston’s mayor, Bill White is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor. The Chronicle believes this accomplished attorney, businessman and public administrator is far and away the most qualified candidate to represent the party in seeking to crack the Republican lock on statewide offices.
The only major paper that has not yet endorsed in the Governor’s race – as far as I can tell, anyway – is the Fort Worth Star-Telrgram. In looking around at some other papers today, I see that White also picked up the nod from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
The Houston mayor is the best candidate to come along on the Democratic ticket in a long, long time. He compiled an impressive record as Houston’s mayor. As proof of what voters thought of him and his initiatives, he was re-elected twice with margins of 86 percent and 90 percent. If elected, he promises to work to help Texas Tech achieve tier one status. He promises to improve public schools and reduce the dropout rate and ensure Texans have adequate health care. As Houston’s mayor he helped the area lead the nation’s cities in job growth, with more new jobs added than 16 states combined. He recognizes West Texas has natural resources such as gas and wind that should be developed to support a growing economy. Of the six other Democratic candidates, only businessman Farouk Shami is tracking in the polls and he’s way back. None can produce the serious level of challenge White will bring to his GOP opponent, whomever he or she may be.
Both the Lubbock paper and the Chron also endorsed Kay Bailey Hutchison for the GOP nomination. Now that the Chron has finally gotten into the game, two days before early voting starts, we’ll see how long it takes them to go through the rest of the races.