Davis: Energy and People Are Equalizers in Guv Contest

DALLAS — Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wendy Davis on Saturday morning dismissed those who argue it might be too late to turn the race around.

“I say that’s absurd,” she said, promising she would have the resources needed to challenge successfully the GOP nominee, Greg Abbott.

On the heels of her Friday night keynote address at the Texas Democrats’ state convention, Davis addressed a party fundraiser breakfast on Saturday morning.

Speaking to reporters after her remarks to the early-rising party faithful, she tried to put context on the current contest, where the most recent polling by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune has her down by double digits.

To win her seat in the state Senate, Davis had to “run two very tough campaigns … and in the first one I was further behind than this.”

Her campaign is committed to reaching out to voters who traditionally don’t vote in gubernatorial years, she said. “I trust that people are going to commit the energy to make this happen. I truly do, and I can see that as I travel around the state in a way that can’t be measured by polls that only asks likely voters based on their past behavior what they might do this time.”

Voters tend to be less focused on elections in the summer months, but with the primary contests in the rearview mirror, “people are looking up now and saying, ‘Who are our choices?’ I have wanted to make sure that they understand the very distinct differences between me and Greg Abbott and I will continue to point out those distinct differences as we go along,” Davis said.

Abbott this week made a base buy of $10 million for airtime to run ads in October in the state’s four major media markets, sending a clear signal as to the level of resources the well-funded Republican will bring to the general election contest.

Davis countered this morning that she expects to be competitive in raising money and that she will rely on people power to make up for any gap.

“We’re going to have the resources that we need and we are going to be competitive not only on television but I can assure you this: there’s no way he can match us on the ground,” she said. “We’ve already got 18,000 people volunteering on the ground for us in this campaign and it’s only June. And as we get closer and closer to the election, I expect that that number will increase dramatically.”