10 Democrats vie for attention in race for goernor

In battle to unseat Abbott, many will focus on fundraising to secure a primary victory

AUSTIN — How do you get noticed in a field of 10 mostly unknown candidates for governor with just two months before voting begins?

That’s a question the recordsized Democratic Party field was asking Tuesday as the long-shot race to unseat Republican Gov. Greg Abbott officially launched. The Democrats may have little name ID and campaign cash, but they have big aspirations to turn the Texas Governor’s Mansion blue next year for the fist time since 1995.

As one Austin campaign consultant described it: “It’s like being in a family with 10 kids who are all seeking their parents’ attention at the same time. The ones with the loudest voices will get noticed.”

But for someone like Mike Collier, a retired accountant from Kingwood who is challenging well-known and well-funded Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the path to victory in the November 2018 general election — and just surviving the March primaries — will require more than just being loud.

“Texas is a big old state and, as a practical matter, there’s only so much you can do with shoe leather to win. You have to raise money,” he said, noting that he began fundraising soon after he launched his campaign last May, as he started campaigning.

“There is no substitute for money. I have a Rolodex, and I have been talking to donors for months.”

To be sure: Getting elected governor in Texas is no cheap proposition, with estimates of how much it takes to win a contested primary starting at $10 million and a contested general election at well over $40 million, based on recent campaigns.

Abbott spent $49 million to win his 2014 campaign against well-known Democrat Wendy Davis, whom he walloped by more than 20 points.

Lesser-known candidates generally raise less money and provide less of a challenge for a better-known rival, but in primaries generally the candidates with the most campaign bucks get the most votes statewide — unless they have built name ID with voters by campaigning for a long time.

Dallas businessman Jeffrey Payne, who announced last summer and has been touring Texas ever since speaking to mostly Democratic and younger-voter groups, said he planned to put to $2.5 million of his own money into his race — but so far he has not had to ante up on his own.

Hardy Haberman, his campaign spokesman, said that rather than raise big money to mount a traditional TV ad campaign, Payne will rely mostly on outdoor and social media to reach “non-traditional voter groups” that will carry him to a hoped-for primary victory.

Other Democratic challengers have said they have similar strategies to get their message out across Texas, with relatively little campaign money in the bank so far and essentially just two months left before primary voting begins. ‘Get out and hustle’

Andrew White, a Houston entrepreneur and son of the late former Gov. Mark White, said he expects to raise $3 million to $4 million to win the primary and may need several times that much to beat Abbott in the general election.

“I’m looking at this campaign like it’s a startup,” said White, who has started several successful ventures in his career. “I’ve got to get out and hustle. … I think the money will come.”

Republican political consultant Jordan Berry, who advised U.S. Rep. Brian Babin in his successful 2014 victory from a field of 12 GOP primary candidates, said money will be the key.

Babin, a Woodville dentist and former mayor who had some name ID, focused his early campaign efforts on raising money, while others knocked on doors and did less fundraising. Babin then used his campaign funds to get his message out through ads — and then won the primary and a runoff, the latter with nearly 58 percent of the vote.

“In these races with a lot of candidates, people are fighting for everyone’s attention and trying to get name ID,” Berry said. “Sitting by a phone and raising money is a better way to go, because if you have money you can get your name out there.”

Austin consultants on both sides of the political aisle predict that the path to the Governor’s Mansion for a Democrat could be even more difficult this year, because the popular Abbott has well over $40 million in his campaign war chest and national Democrats will be looking to raise money in Texas to help them recapture Congress.

And then, Texas is still overwhelmingly Republican and will likely say so in the November election, the consultants insist, even though Democratic Party officials predict the state will be surprised by a blue wave in the general election. Ready to listen

Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who jumped into the race a week ago, might have the best understanding of how to get noticed in a field of 10 candidates, as the youngest of eight children growing up in San Antonio.

“Over the coming months, she looks forward to listening to everyday Texans and talking about the issues that keep them up at night,” her campaign spokesman Kiefer Odell said in an email. “Through modern campaign tools, old-school retail politics, and grassroots organizing, we plan to earn the Democratic nomination for governor. We are reaching out to voters in every single corner of our state.”

As for what Abbott thinks about the 10 Democrats challenging him, he quipped to a reporter Tuesday: “I think you intimidate me more.”

His campaign said he has nothing to say about any of them.