Son of late governor considering same seat
Entrepreneur says leadership failing in state’s top office
AUSTIN — Andrew White, a Houston entrepreneur and son of the late Gov. Mark White, is setting the stage to possibly run for governor against incumbent Republican Greg Abbott.
White, who wants to run as a Democrat, said he is launching a Facebook page and website, AndrewWhite.com, as he explores formally filing as a candidate. He said he expects to decide by Thanksgiving, perhaps sooner.
“I don’t know what success looks like, but I definitely know what failure looks like — and that’s what we have now,” White said. “Our state is being run by a very fringe element of the Republican party.”
On his exploratory website, White sounds more like a fullfledged candidate: “I’ve never been elected to anything. So I thought I’d start with governor.”
If he runs, White would be the first candidate with street cred in a year when Democratic officials have, so far, failed to announce a banner-carrier to run against Abbott. Two other Democrats have announced — Dallas gay bar owner Jeffrey Payne and San Antonio businessman Tom Wakely — but they are both considered long shots with not enough name ID or funding support to win.
‘Let’s do it’
White would be a “next gen” candidate, younger than Abbott and most other gubernatorial candidates, with hopes that he could coalesce support from Democrats and moderate Republicans disgusted with the GOP leadership’s push to enact a bathroom bill, a ban on sanctuary cities and other controversial proposals that have drawn widespread protests — even from the business community that traditionally supports Republicans.
Those are the groups, he said, that he hopes to bring together to win, if he runs.
“I’m a Democrat … but I’m very conservative, and some people might think I’m a moderate Republican,” he said. “I don’t care what you call me.”
Growing up in a political family, White, the president of Houston-based Sweat Equity Partners LP, said he never considered getting into politics. But after his father died in August, he said “hundreds of people were coming up to me talking about all the things that dad did.
“Texas was having a special session over a bathroom bill that was going to have a negative impact on business, was bad policy, was discriminatory,” he said. “That’s not leadership. … I decided that I needed to do this. I feel compelled to do this, for people who are not involved in government to get involved and make a difference.”
White’s father, a lifelong Democrat, served as governor from 1983 to 1987. He previously served as attorney general and secretary of state.
Andrew White said that after he discussed exploring a race for governor several weeks ago with his older brother and younger sister, who both urged him to run. He also told his mother, former Texas first lady Linda Gale White.
“She didn’t miss a beat,” Andrew White said. “‘Let’s do it,’ is what she said.”
‘Testing the market’
Since Texas Monthly broke the story Tuesday of White’s possible race, he said he has been inundated with calls of support — from both Democrats and Republicans.
“I’m approaching this like a businessman, testing the market before I make a final decision,” White said. “Based on this initial reaction from people … that could speed up my decision.”
He said he had not consulted state Democratic Party officials before announcing his intentions but would meet with them on Thursday in Austin to discuss his possible race.
Facing a Republican incumbent with well over $40 million in his campaign war chest, White acknowledged that funding a campaign will be a challenge, “but we’ll get there. … I’m going to spend every dollar I raise.”
If he runs, White would be the sixth candidate with Houston ties to be running for statewide office in 2018.
Houston energy lawyer Stefano de Stefano is running as a Republican against Ted Cruz, who has a Houston home; Abbott is a former Houston judge who last lived in the Bayou City before coming to Austin as a Texas Supreme Court justice, and Houston accountant Mike Collier is running against Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a fellow Houstonian, as a Democrat.
Democrats have not won an election for statewide office in 20 years in Texas.