Wendy Davis , the Texas state senator running for governor, raised questions on Twitter about whether her opponent supports interracial marriage.
Davis, a Democrat, apparently forgot that election rival Greg Abbott is himself in a long-term interracial marriage.
The GOP standard bearer in the campaign for Texas governor, Abbott, currently serves as the state’s attorney general, and has been married to his wife Cecilia, who is of Hispanic heritage, for more than 30 years after meeting her at the University of Texas at Austin.
When asked by the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board, Abbott gave a very legalistic answer in the context of his current constitutional role: “Right now, if there was a ban on interracial marriage, that’s already been ruled unconstitutional. And all I can do is deal with the issues that are before me… The job of an attorney general is to represent and defend in court the laws of their client, which is the state Legislature, unless and until a court strikes it down.” When pressed further, he admitted that “actually, the reason why you’re uncertain about it is because I didn’t answer the question. And I can’t go back and answer some hypothetical question like that.”
Both Davis and Abbott are probably pretty worn out after months on the campaign trail, but a more real-world rather than theoretical answer probably would have been something along the lines of “I would step down as attorney general if I was ever placed in that situation.”
That being said, in response to the Davis allegations, which some are calling race-baiting or playing the race card, the Washington Examiner noted that “the suggestion that Abbott would somehow be uncomfortable with marriage among different racial or ethic groups is absurd. Cecilia Abbott, his wife, is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and the Texas Tribune has reported that — in the event of an Abbott victory — she would be ‘the first Latina to be the first lady of Texas.’”
According to the Tribune , Cecilia Abbott, a former educator, “has been a regular at her husband’s side as he travels across the state for his campaign.”
Polling suggests that Abbott is maintaining a big lead over Davis and is on course for victory on November 4. Some Democrat insiders have suggested that Wendy Davis sees the handwriting on the wall and is actually auditioning for an MSNBC gig.
@WendyDavisTexas maybe you can interview Governor Abbott on your new MSNBC show, or perhaps ask his Latina wife.
— Ollie Llama (@texasollie) October 20, 2014
Wendy Davis recently received criticism across the political spectrum for running a controversial campaign ad that highlighted the fact that Greg Abbott is wheelchair bound after a horrible accident in 1984. The ad condemned Abbott as a hypocrite for working against other persons with disabilities. The commercial cites several controversial cases that Abbott was involved in over his legal career that allegedly were adverse to those persons. The factual basis of the ad has been called into question, however, in part because lawsuits are often decided on narrow technicalities that usually don’t lend themselves to brief sound bites.
Yesterday, Davis apparently made a social media blunder when she (or perhaps a campaign operative) tweeted out a picture that purported to a group of young supporters who cast their ballots for her in Texas early voting. It turned out that instead they were Virginia College Republicans.
Do you think Wendy Davis has a chance to become Texas governor after the votes are counted on November 4?
[Image credit: Kevin Sutherland]