Known nationwide for staging an 11-hour-long filibuster of anti-abortion legislation in her pink running shoes, Wendy Davis is running for Congress.
The liberal media are already in love with Davis, but she will likely struggle to escape the effect that tanked Beto O’Rourke in the 2018 Texas Senate election. Though she may be beloved nationally, flipping her red district will be more difficult than attracting fawning press.
Davis hopes to unseat freshman Republican Rep. Chip Roy in 2020, as she campaigns off the viral fame she gained in 2013 for filibustering a bill that imposed limits on late-term abortions.
The bill later passed, and Davis has found little political success since her 15 minutes of fame. Not well-liked during her bid to become Texas’ governor in 2014, Davis lost badly even for a Democrat in a red state, garnering less than 40% of the vote.
Davis has an (un)popularity problem.
Hollywood may be making a movie about her, starring Sandra Bullock and dramatically titled Let Her Speak, but Texans don’t appear to want her in office.
Her stances on abortion are not radical for Democrats, but they are too much for most Republicans. She filibustered a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks into pregnancy (about five months), and she has been a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood.
“Planned Parenthood and the mission of Planned Parenthood — the health care provided by Planned Parenthood — is always going to be part of the core of who I am,” Davis told Politico last year. “I’m so proud that I’ve had an opportunity to travel all over this country and help Planned Parenthood affiliates to be successful.”
If we’ve learned anything from Beto O’Rourke, it’s that celebrities and political leaders will continue to prop up politicians who are unpopular in their own states, but who hold some scrap of liberal star power. Effusive coverage may help them in the polls, but it won’t always show up at the ballot box.
Davis may not make it to Congress, but given that she teased interest in leading Planned Parenthood last year, there’s one job opening where she should certainly be welcomed.
