02.19.09

Democrat Leticia Van de Putte for Govenor of Texas

Posted in 2010 Primary, Around The State, Good Stuff, Uncategorized at 9:50 pm by wcnews

Burnt Orange Report has a link, Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte for Governor?, to a SA current profile of State Senator Leticia Van De Putte (D-San Antonio) who is mulling over a possible run for governor. From the SA Current, Capitol ideas.

Van de Putte is such a boisterous, blunt speaker that some Republicans surely perceive her as a partisan flamethrower, but what’s striking about her, at close range, is her pragmatism about the legislative process. During a Wednesday afternoon office meeting with representatives from Voices for Children and Texans Care for Children, she talks about how she’s learned to sell education and green-energy programs to Republicans as economic, return-on-investment ideas, rather than as moral or environmental imperatives. When they talk about the federal-stimulus package then working its way through Congress, she sidesteps ideology and frames the issue this way: Texas taxpayers are paying their share for the plan, so why shouldn’t they reap their share of the funds?

“She’s been very effective, enough for us to keep electing her as our leader of the Democratic Senate Caucus,” says Texas Senator Mario Gallegos (D-Houston). “She’s the epitome of someone you’d want to represent you. She covers all the bases. She’s very cognizant of the people that elected her and brought her here.”

Navarro used Van de Putte’s career as a case study for Latinas in politics and says she was struck by Van de Putte’s open-mindedness and her recognition of the need to work with the opposition, as when she collaborated with Republican Representative Toby Goodman on legislation that opened up the state’s telecommunications market. “She is willing to listen to a variety of viewpoints. She understands the importance of keeping a dialogue on difficult issues,” Navarro says. “What impressed me was her ability, as a Latina politica, to lead in one of the most conservative state legislatures in the country.”

She’s got a strong list qualifications, more from the DMN on her possible run for governor, State senator eyes statewide run.

“People are asking, and have been, ‘What’s the next step for you?’ ” Van de Putte said. “I can honestly say I don’t know.”

Over the past few months she’s been mentioned as a potential U.S. Senate candidate, and lately talk has turned to a run for governor. Van de Putte said her decision will be based on whether she thinks she can win.

“I know I could be a strong candidate … but I also know that I’m not going to be a sacrificial lamb. I’m not going to take a step and invest that much time and effort unless I have a real possibility of winning,” Van de Putte said. “It’s just not my style to do stuff half-ass.”

You go to like the confidence.

Van de Putte, 54, is a pharmacist by profession. She said she has friendships and civic connections across the state because she has traveled for years to Texas community festivals with her husband, Pete Van de Putte, who runs a flag business.

Van de Putte said she doesn’t want a declaration that she’s seeking higher office to distract from her work this spring in the Legislature, where she plans to battle for education legislation and against a voter identification bill.

Gov. Rick Perry and Hutchison already are waging their race for the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary. On the Democrats’ side, former ambassador Tom Schieffer and author and humorist Kinky Friedman have said they are considering running. Democrats John Sharp and Houston Mayor Bill White have said they’re interested in seeking a U.S. Senate seat.

Van de Putte said she’ll work for Democratic candidates whether she runs for another office or not, but she indicated she doesn’t think Friedman is the right choice for governor.

“I think he’s just a great character and an amazing guy. But we’re in serious times. I think we really need serious people,” she said.

Asked whether Perry or Hutchison would be the preferred opponent for a Democratic nominee, Van de Putte said neither is talking about the economic issues hitting the state’s middle-class. She suggested Perry is squandering the power of his office by putting his weight behind measures like a “Choose Life” license plate backed by anti-abortion activists.

Hutchison, who enjoys high approval ratings and is more moderate than Perry on social issues, is widely viewed as a more difficult opponent for a Democrat in a general election.

Van de Putte insists a Democrat can win statewide.

“And that candidate, you know, it may be me,” she said.

I really like her pointing out how tone deaf Hutchison and Perry are to the needs of the middle class. She’s the best candidate that’s been mentions so far.

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