Governor’s race:
Davis plays to friendly crowd at SXSWedu
Wendy Davis plays to friendly education crowd at SXSWedu,
State Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor, showed her ease with education policy before a friendly audience on Wednesday while poking at her Republican opponent for not yet engaging on the issue.
“With his words, he says that education is a priority,” Davis said of Attorney General Greg Abbott, who won his party’s gubernatorial nomination Tuesday. “But with his actions, he shows that it’s not.”
Wednesday marked the first official day of the general election for governor, though the Davis and Abbott campaigns have been sniping at each other for months.
Davis spoke for about an hour at the Austin Convention Center before a packed audience of about 800 attendees of SXSWedu, the education offshoot of the upcoming South by Southwest music, film and interactive conferences. The crowd gave Davis a standing ovation when she walked on the stage and cheered when she disavowed private school vouchers.
The questioning from Linda Lorelle, the moderator of a political affairs show on Houston public television, allowed Davis to show her expertise.
Beyond saying the state will have surplus revenue come 2015, Davis offered no detail on how to pay for her plans to provide universal access to prekindergarten and expand access to college.
“The question for us as legislators is, ‘What will our priorities be for the use of those funds?’” Davis said.
The Abbott campaign declined to respond directly. Abbott has laid out a broad framework for his education plan, including fostering charter schools and virtual online learning, to make Texas schools “No. 1.” He has yet to provide specifics on to how to achieve that goal but is expected to do so soon.