Filibuster earns Texas senator a donation windfall
Wendy Davis has reaped nearly $1 million in donations since she staged a nearly 11-hour filibuster that ultimately failed to stop stringent new abortion legislation.
![Texas Senator abortion filibuster: Wendy Davis has reaped nearly $1 million in donations since she staged a nearly 11-hour filibuster that ultimately failed to stringent new abortion legislature.]({"default":{"load":"defer","src":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/b7/51cfa11aba36c9c65a195596a4/_h309_w628_m6_utrue_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}} "Reuters")
DALLAS — Texas state Sen.Wendy Davis has reaped nearly $1 million in political donations since she staged a nearly 11-hour filibuster that ultimately failed to stop the Legislature from approving stringent new restrictions on abortion in the state, her office said Monday.
Davis, 50, who is running for re-election to the Senate in 2014 and has been called upon by some fellow Democrats to run for governor, raised $933,000 in two weeks and now has more than $1 million in her campaign coffers, her campaign said.
With her filibuster last month, Davis drew national attention to the debate over a Texas bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, impose strict new health and safety standards on abortion clinics and limit use of the RU-486 drug to end pregnancies.
She managed to stall the bill to prevent its passage during a special session of the Legislature.
But Gov. Rick Perry called the Legislature back to a second special session this month, and lawmakers approved the bill last week. Perry is expected to sign it into law soon.
Texas campaign finance reports, due by midnight Monday for fundraising in the first six months of the year, show that Davis has a large following in Texas as well as outside the state. She received donations from 15,290 contributors, her campaign said.
"Texans from around the state have been generous with their contributions, enthusiastic with their support, and committed to joining me in the fight for the priorities of Texas families," Davis said in the statement.
The report shows Davis raised $580,000 from Texas contributors and the balance of $353,000 from out-of-state donors. The majority of the money was raised in the period after she staged the filibuster.
Should Davis decide to run for governor, she will face a formidable challenge from Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, who announced Sunday he would run for governor.
Abbott's campaign announced Monday that he raised nearly $4.78 million in two weeks and has a campaign fund of about $23 million.
Abbott announced he would run less than a week after Perry announced that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term.
There are no declared Democratic candidates for governor.
