Mayors don't win statewide elections in Texas...

Many people including Kay (link) believe Bill White will be the gubernatorial nominee for the Democrats... but mayors don't do very well in state wide elections in Texas. Anna Tinsley has a good set of information about it (link). Excerpt follows...

Texas’ mayors are crucial to their communities, overseeing issues ranging from budgets to potholes.

But Texas voters aren’t kind, for the most part, when those mayors want to move on — and up — to statewide office.

"It’s very difficult to translate the mayor’s job into future political success," said Kelly Fero, an Austin-based Democratic strategist. "It’s a very important post, but these just aren’t the jobs that smooth the skids to a higher political office."

As Houston Mayor Bill White jumps into the gubernatorial race, state Sen. Florence Shapiro, a former Plano mayor, ramps up a possible U.S. Senate campaign and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert talks to area Republicans about a potential U.S. Senate bid of his own, the state’s political movers and shakers are buzzing about the lackluster history of Texas mayors who have tried to move up to statewide offices.

I think Bill White was smart to drop out of the senate race, because nobody wants to see a Democrat increase Harry Reid's numbers in the senate, but I don't see 2010 or 2012 being great years for Democrats at any level in Texas... and Bill White seems like a competent guy but I don't think he or any other Democrat is the guy to beat the eventual Republican nominee... not this year, and probably not in 2 years either...