The entire statement from Mayor Bill White:
Since Friday a week ago Texans from all backgrounds and all regions have asked me to consider running to be our next Governor of Texas. Today I agree to consider running for Governor, and shall make a decision by Friday, December 4th.
Before then I invite the citizens of Texas to weigh in on this decision by visiting my website and emailing me at billwhite@billwhitefortexas.com.
Both our next Governor and Senator should bring new energy to the task of moving our state forward. In both positions, we need leadership that can bring our state together and reduce the strident partisanship in both Austin and Washington.
Texans know we can do better than ranking dead last in the nation in the percentage of our population with a high school diploma. Texans know we can do better than the last decade of soaring electricity and insurance costs, and skyrocketing college tuition.
Sen. Hutchison has postponed her departure from the Senate and acknowledged that her continued service limits her ability to campaign in our state. I share her belief, and that of her supporters, that we need a new Governor.
I thank many thousands of Texans who have supported my campaign with their volunteer hours and dollars. I will listen to your views on how we can best work together to do what is right for Texas. I especially welcome advice from the citizens of Texas’ largest city, who know me best and have supported leadership by solutions, not just soundbites. You have been my partners in moving Houston forward by finding common ground, and running our City Hall with integrity, in a business-like, financially sound, and inclusive manner.
Politics aside, Texans should enjoy their friends and family during this week of Thanksgiving and say a prayer for those who cannot be home with their loved ones because they are serving us abroad.
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The son of San Antonio school teachers, White helped build a law firm and managed a successful business before being elected Houston’s mayor in 2003. Since then, he’s been re-elected twice with 86% and 91% of the vote. During White’s administration, Houston led the nation’s cities in job growth, adding more jobs than sixteen states combined. At the same time, he cut property taxes five years in a row and helped seniors with tax relief. White also started a special initiative that gives returning veterans the welcome they deserve with coordinated social services, reductions in red tape, and employment opportunities. After Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike, Bill White mobilized an effective disaster response including first responders, businesses and churches. For the compassionate, hands-on leadership after Katrina, White received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2007. Previously, he served as Deputy Secretary of Energy of the United States.
For more information, please visit www.billwhitefortexas.com. To be added to the press list, please email press@billwhitefortexas.com.
The Statement came soon after Democrat Tom Schieffer issued a very classy statement urging Mayor White to enter the race for Governor and urging the others in the running to back Bill White. Here is Tom Schieffer’s statement:
Yesterday, my treasurer, Lyndon Olson, and I met In Houston with Mayor Bill White. I urged Mayor White to consider running for Governor instead of the United States Senate. I told him that I thought our state was facing a crisis of leadership and if we did not have a new governor, Texas could wind up being a third world state.
I also told him that I thought the Democratic Party offered the only chance for real change in Texas and we had to have a candidate that was thoughtful and serious and could draw from a broad range of support. I told him that I thought he could be that candidate and that I was prepared to withdraw from the race in order to make that happen.
So, I am announcing today that I will no longer be a candidate for Governor. I hope my actions will be a catalyst for others to reassess their intentions and to join me in supporting Mayor White for governor. We simply must get behind one candidate that can unite our party and offer a credible alternative to the Republicans next fall. I think Bill White is that candidate, and I hope others will join me in urging him to run.
Before I answer your questions I want to thank the folks who went out on a limb to support my candidacy. So many of them have been my friend for thirty and forty years. To them it was always more about friendship than politics. But there were countless others that supported my candidacy and said they wanted to help because they thought I could take our state in a different direction. Old friends or new friends, I was deeply touched by your willingness to help, and I thank you.
Finally, I want to thank my family for pitching in. They have always been there for me. I wish that I could have saved them from the pain of this moment, but I love them and appreciate very much their sacrifice in my behalf.
