Sen. Van de Putte decides not to run
Today State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte (D-San Antonio) issued a statement that she will not be considering entering the gubernatorial race in Texas. “Just because one can win the Democratic nomination for Governor doesn’t mean one should, unless he or she is best positioned to defeat the Republican nominee in the fall,” said Van de Putte in the statement. Towards the end of the statement Van de Putte raised the possiblility that Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) should consider running for the Democratic nomination. “I intend to lobby Senator Watson to run for governor, and I’ll wholeheartedly support him if he does,” Van de Putte added. I believe this is a wise move on the senator’s part and feel she has thought long and hard about the decision.
Early in the year, several speculated that the senator should consider running for Lt. Governor in a posting at the Burnt Orange Report by Karl-Thomas Musselman on Democratic options for winning the race. Less than a month later Phillip Martin posted an entry in BOR making the case for Van de Putte to instead run for Governor after the San Antonio Current published an article on the senator in mid-February. In the article the first mention of such a possibility is attributed to Mayor Julian Castro during his introduction of the senator at his candidacy announcement. State Senator Mario Gallegos (D-Houston) also weighed into the possibility in the article. “She brings a fresh outlook on things and I think that’s what people are looking for. There’s no doubt in my mind that if she decides to run for the U.S. Senate, or whatever position she decides to run for, that she’ll be able to get her share of the votes.”
That posting sparked several supportive comments from noted Democrats in Texas as well as my own comment challenging the conventional wisdom of the option. Media around the state started reporting about the possibility including the Express-News. At the time Van de Putte tried to put off any speculation by saying she would relook at the option in June after the legislative session. “Those opportunities, I think, will still be there in June,” she said in an interview for the article. After that a Facebook group was started to draft Sen. Van de Putte for the candidacy, growing to 772 members as of today. The next day Robert Ryland posted a more detailed argument in BOR supporting the idea of her candidacy with numerous comments on both sides of the position. Needless to say the wheels were in motion for her to possibly enter the race.
Today that speculation ended with her statement and started new speculation on Sen. Kirk’s potential candidacy. In a statement on Watson’s website he thanked Sen. Van de Putte for the support but declined to act any further. “I intend to give this issue serious consideration, and I do not anticipate making any decisions in this regard until at least sometime after the end of the anticipated special session of the legislature, and probably not until the end of the summer,” said Watson in the statement. Of course this possibility has now thrown the political speculation in motion of who might replace Watson should he decide to run. David Mauro at BOR provides some views on the possible list of candidates to succeed Watson should he run.
All along I have never really thought Sen. Van de Putte would be able to stage a strong challenge against either Perry or Hutchison. Both have strong name recognition in Texas and would play well in the small corners of the state where Van de Putte is literally unheard of. When it comes to the ballot voters usually vote for the name the know. Trying to overcome that name recognition battle would be very expensive because of the large number of media markets required to canvass. Secondly, if Hutchison does take the primary against Perry many moderates would view Hutchison as a safer candidate for governor than Van de Putte who is often considered a renegade in the Senate. Understand I don’t fault Van de Putte for that reputation. Her passion in the Senate is critical in rallying Democrats when needed. Just watching her speech during the early days on Voter ID shows the passion.
Now, that being said, I would think that Van de Putte would make a great candidate for Lt. Governor thus setting herself up to mount a stronger challenge for governor some time in the future. She knows the Senate as good or better that Lt. Governor Dewhurst does and could also provide a good counterticket option against a Republican governor. It would also help her garner name recognition with voters across Texas and give the impression of administrative duties by the title alone. I’m not sure if that’s in the cards at this point but that would be a better route to the mansion from my limited viewpoint.
I think it was wise for her to not enter the race. I agree that she is still very much an unknown and does not represent the best chance for a Dem victory. I also agree she fits better as a person who rallies her party members in a deliberative body like the State Senate rather than a serious candidate for governor’s office especially in a red state like Texas.
Speaking of candidates, what about Kinky Friedman? I mentioned it on SA Mayors blog on his own posting on this topic. He has not completely ruled out another run and had mentioned before that if he did run again, he would run as a Democrat. I think he would be a viable candidate. Although he came in 3rd, he did run a spirited campaign and took a respectable chunk of the popular vote considering that he was an independent running for the first time for public office. Plus, he came away from the experience with most Texans viewing him in a positive light, regardless if they voted for him or not.
I was talking to someone last night about Sen. Van de Putte’s decision and we both agreed that maybe she should consider running for LG. After all, the LG actually more powerful than the Governor since the LG sets the calendar for the Senate. It would be a great fit for her because of her tremendous experience in the Senate and it would give her the name recognition should she decide to run for Governor.
Kinky would be an interesting candidate but he’d never pull enough votes to win in my opinion. I think too many people who might consider him would walk into the booth and play it safe with the other candidate. They’re just not ready for a Jesse Ventura style governor in Texas just yet.
What a waste of internet space. Why would she even think she has a chance? Why would she think she is competent enough to be Gov.?
Her husband would beat up anyone that said that though…, so I didn’t say that. (Or, at least that was what she said during that one election) No class….
jp I would ask you review the guidelines for posting. I enjoy commentary in the blog but as long as they follow the guidelines. This is a place for reasonable discussion, not bashing.
You really didn’t add anything to the discussion about why you feel Sen. VDP wouldn’t win.
Personally she’s more than competent than our current governor who seems to feel that patronizing people is better than actually promoting policy good for Texans.