Wendy Davis Says She Won't Rule Out Running for Texas Governor Next Year Against Rick Perry

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14. Rising Texas political star Davis takes second look at governor's race

By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News
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It's been a sharp, quick ascent into national prominence for Wendy Davis, the Democratic state senator whose 13-hour filibuster against a restrictive Texas abortion law made her an instant heroine to progressives across the country – and a rising star in Texas politics.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Wendy Davis, the Texas state legislator whose 11-hour filibuster prevented a vote on a controversial abortion law, are engaged in a war of words as Perry calls another special session to hold a vote on the measure. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

Her activism has reignited the conversation about her political future which could include a run for governor. "Of course it forces a second look, but I am not taking that look right now," Davis said in an interview with NBC News. "Right now, I'm working to try to be very strategic, and a member of the team that has to work very hard in the next few weeks to defeat this bill."
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But asked directly whether she would rule out serving as Democrats' candidate for governor in 2014, Davis responded: "I cannot rule that out."

Davis's story is now well-known: the former single-mother-turned-Harvard-Law-grad stood and spoke for hours on end in opposition to a law that would effectively ban most abortions in Texas after the 20th week of pregnancy, and shutter most of the clinics in the state where abortions are performed. Her speech felled the abortion bill after the deadline by which it must have been passed expired.

That fight is about to escalate beginning on Monday, when a special session called by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, R, meets in Austin to work toward reconsidering and passing that abortion law. And all eyes will watching to see how Davis — who has emerged not just as a chief adversary to Perry, but also as a rising national Democratic star — proceeds.

"What I can say is, I don't underestimate at all the power that people have brought to this conversation," she told NBC News in a phone interview. "And I will not underestimate the impact that they can have in the Capitol. And I expect they're going to be there, working hard alongside people who share their values."

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