Candidate Comparison: Sun setting on Texas gubernatorial duel

Abbott

The Republican: An Austin fixture. Two decades have elapsed since a Democrat was elected to a state office in Texas, and Abbott should know – he’s been in Austin that long. 

Davis

The filibuster of hope. A single mother that went from rags to riches, Davis, 51, rose to national prominence in June 2013 after filibustering a bill restricting abortion access. Armed with only a pair of pink sneakers, the state senator from Fort Worth held the floor for 11 hours, forgoing bathroom breaks and food.

A rightwing champion. Before he became the state’s top attorney in 2002, Abbott, 57, served on the Texas Supreme Court from 1995-2001.

He became somewhat of a Texas folk hero in 2005, successfully arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court to keep a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the state capitol building. Thomas Van Orden had sued Texas claiming the monument violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause, but in a 5-4 decision, high court justices found “simply having religious content or promoting a message consistent with a religious doctrine does not run afoul of the establishment clause.”

A trial lawyer under FBI investigation? A trial lawyer by trade, in April The Dallas Morning News reported Davis’ work as a lawyer for the North Texas Tollway Authority was under FBI investigation.

Although the FBI declined to deny or confirm the speculated inquiry, that didn’t stop Davis’ nemesis from using the article in an attack ad.

Before starting Newby Davis, a multi-purpose law firm offering expertise in governmental affairs, in 2010, Davis was a civil litigation attorney for Haynes & Boone.

A Harvard Law honor grad, Davis served nine years on the Fort Worth City Council, prior to her election to the Texas Senate in 2008. However …

Abbott, special interests and aging rock stars all go together like football, BBQ and light beer. Davis has certainly spent all small fortune to paint Abbott as a special interest crony, releasing a barrage of attack ads against the attorney general – one of which goes as far to accuse Abbott of siding with a corporation over a rape victim.

In August, Davis aired her first attack ad, notifying supporters via email that Abbot’s “long history of siding with insiders comes at the expense of Texans, including victims of rape.”

The full-minute ad centered on an early 1990s lawsuit brought by a woman who was “brutally” raped by a Kirby Vacuum salesman as her two children slept. The salesman was a sexual predator on probation but the Kirby distributor failed to perform a routine background check.

By a 6-3 vote in 1998, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a $160,000 award in favor of the plaintiff against Kirby, with then-justice Abbott dissenting.

What Davis’ ad doesn’t say is Abbott dissented because he concluded that Kirby owed no duty or was responsible for the distributor – the actual party in charge of hiring the predator.

But way before the politicians began their negative bombardments, Abbott created quite a stir at the start of his campaign once the public learned the ever-polarizing musician Ted Nugent, who once described President Obama as a “subhuman mongrel,” would be making a series of appearances on his behalf. 

Members of the media beware. If Davis losses, she may sue. Following her failed first 1996 city council bid, Davis put her law degree to work and sued the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, claiming an editorial published by the paper caused her mental anguish and infringed upon her right to pursue public office.

The Real Wendy Davis, a website paid for by the Republican Party of Texas, generously provides links to the editorial in question and subsequent lawsuit. 

Pro-lifers vote Abbott. While Abbott has received numerous endorsements from iconic conservatives, like Sen. Rick Santorum, throughout his campaign, pro-life groups wasted no time endorsing the attorney general once Davis was cemented as his opponent.

In January alone, Abbott received endorsements from Texas Right to Life, Texas Alliance for Life, Life PAC, Concerned Women for America PAC, The Heidi Group and Texans for Life Coalition.

Obamas to the rescue. Although former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was one of the first liberal politician of any notoriety to endorse Davis, the First Lady has since come to aid Davis’ ailing campaign.

On Oct. 8 Davis released a radio ad staring Michelle Obama.

“For Wendy, education is a top priority because she wants to give all our kids a chance to build a better life for themselves and for their families,” Obama says in the ad. “That’s what the American dream is all about. And Wendy knows something about the American Dream.”   

Six-figure donations? Yes, thank you. Before the race for governor even started, Abbott had stockpiled tens of millions of dollars. And with no donation restrictions to state candidates, wealthy Texans continued to pour millions more into his coffers.

From July 1 to Sept. 25, Abbott raised more than $7.8 million, spent $17.6 million and still maintained more than $30 million cash on hand.

Nearly a dozen Texans donated $100,000 or more to his campaign in that time frame, a group that includes Galveston plaintiff’s attorney Anthony Buzbee, Hilcrop Energy CEO Jeffrey Hildebrand, Hunt Oil successor Ray Hunt, and billionaire oil tycoon Trevor Rees-Jones.

Bird’s a feather flock together … Despite the odds, Texas trial lawyers are taking a chance on Davis, opening up their wallets in hopes of electing a fellow civil litigator.

Davis’ biggest supporter continues to be Houston attorney Steve Mostyn, who dumped more than $400,000 into the state senator’s fundraising entities in the past three months, according to campaign finance reports.

Since Davis has announced her candidacy, Mostyn, the Mostyn law firm and PACs funded by Mostyn have contributed more than $3 million to Davis.

Keeping Obama out of Texas! Err, I mean protecting state rights. From his well-publicized battles against the Environmental Protection Agency, to filing 30 lawsuits against the Obama Administration, Abbott, like most 2014 GOP hopefuls, has made combating federal overreach a primary theme throughout his campaign.

Here’s a blurb from his campaign website: “Greg Abbott will relentlessly continue to make sure that Texas’ constitutional rights are never held hostage by the federal government.”