North Texas Daily

State Sen. Wendy Davis announced her candidacy for Governor of Texas Thursday in the W.G. Thomas Coliseum in Haltom City.

Having never traveled to Haltom City before, I initially had difficulty finding the destination, but as I pulled to a grinding stop-and-go on Boulevard Avenue, and gazed through my passenger window, I noticed a crowd of Tea Party activists shouting in my general direction, waving signs that read, “Texas is pro-God, pro-family and pro-life!” and “Keep Texas RED!!” This confirmed I was getting close.

Davis, who rocketed to fame for her 11-hour filibuster defending education spending and birth control for women, earned herself a spotlight on the national stage and rekindled the debate between social conservatives and those who are not.

When I entered the coliseum, it was packed with Davis’ admirers, who were awaiting her appearance and her big announcement.

After 20 minutes of the crowd waiting, campaign staffers lowered a curtain that hung to the right of the stage and the sign that was once hidden behind it was revealed. Its message caused the crowd to roar “Wendy Davis for Governor.” Once the news was revealed, the crowd eagerly awaited the senator’s speech regarding her reasons for choosing to run for the office.

As she made her way onto the stage and took her place behind the podium, she greeted the audience and began to explain almost immediately her reasons for running for Governor.

“We’re here because we want to fight for Texas jobs, and help Texas companies grow,” she said. “We’re here because we want every child, no matter where they start in Texas, to receive a world-class education – an education that can take them anywhere they want to go, so that success and opportunity is within reach of every single Texan and no one in this great state is forced to dream smaller instead of bigger.”

From there, Davis took the speech to a personal level.

“By the time I was 19, I was already on my way to a divorce living in a tiny trailer with my daughter, Amber,” she said. “I was barely making ends meet and sometimes they didn’t. It wasn’t the life I had imagined and it definitely wasn’t what I wanted for Amber. When I listened to my heart I knew that things had to change. I thought that my educational journey had come to an end. But I discovered that education was within my reach. The Texas I came up in made it possible for me to go to school.”

Davis earned a law degree from Harvard University, was elected to the Fort Worth City Council and won a state Senate seat that put her in position to perform a filibuster that many would argue was what gave her a shot to be the gubernatorial candidate for the Texas Democratic Party. But while Davis’ speech focused on education, jobs, opportunities and chances, there is little doubt as to what this gubernatorial election is really going to be about: social issues.

With the recent battle over science standards in textbooks, the debate between evolution proponents and “intelligent design” advocates will become a key topic.

In addition, the crisis of Texas having the highest teen birth rate correlating with sex education in Texas schools that many have argued lack essential information, will see safe sex versus abstinence education become a key topic of the 2014 gubernatorial race as well.

The outcome of both of those debates could have drastically different results depending on who the victor is.

Healthcare will also be an issue. As the Affordable Care Act looms on the horizon, Texans will decide whether or not our state will open itself up to the new law, or whether it will attempt to block as much of it as possible.

This much is for sure — whether you are a Texas Democrat or Republican, a lot hinges on this race for the Capital.

Tex. State Sen. Wendy Davis announced her bid to become Texas governor Thursday in Haltom City in the coliseum where she received her high school diploma. Feature photo by Race Hochdorf / Intern Writer