I finally bothered to do the research to see who had declared they were running for Texas governor on the Democratic ticket. So far, there are only four of them, only two of which I have any name recognition associated with. Others may join in later, but I can’t imagine any of the late comers being any more well known.

First up we have Kinky Friedman, this time as a Democrat. Just … no. Our state is entirely too messed up right now to allow him into the governor’s office. We need someone who knows how to get things done. I am not at all convinced he’s that person, and I’m pretty sure he won’t make it through the primary.

Then there’s Hank Gilbert. He’s a rancher, and he seems to have some plans for what to do if he wins. His plans even sound sane. Unless I hear him say something incredibly stupid, I have to say I like him (so far). Unfortunately, no one –myself included– knows him. Maybe that will change by March.

Next up is Tom Schieffer. He has political experience, and he seems to know what he’s doing. But … it doesn’t seem to mention anywhere on his web site that he was a business partner with George W. Bush on the Texas Rangers deal, and was appointed to ambassador positions by said Bush and that they are, in fact, friends. Even more damning is the fact he endorsed and voted for Bush whenever the opportunity arose to do so. Even though he doesn’t sound like an insane person, I have to say no way just for his overly close associations with the main reason our state (and nation) is in the state it is in today –George W. Bush– and for being a supposed Democrat who voted for Bush.

And this morning a new contender has thrown his hat into the ring. Farouk Shami owns a large hair care and spa product company in Houston. He has no political experience, and he also doesn’t have a web site up yet, so no idea what his ideas might be. All I know about him is he is pledging to spend ten million of his own dollars running for office, which doesn’t really tell me much at all other than he has more money than he knows what to do with. He might be a great guy^†, and I might end up liking him, but I just don’t expect he’s going to make it through the primary with a name like Farouk Shami (and being a Palestinian-American isn’t going to help either). He’ll have to be amazing to win over Texans with a handicap like that (sad but true).

There are some Libertarians running as well as at least one Independent, but I’m tired of thinking about the governor’s race for today. The primaries are a ways off (March) and the election even further away, so there will be plenty of time to talk about this in the coming months. I just thought I’d make a post about the Democratic candidates since one of them –Farouk Shami– finally made it into a headline that ended up in my news reader. When a Libertarian or Independent manages to do that, I guess I’ll make a post about those candidates as well. Maybe one of them will be amazing.

It’d be nice to not have a Republican governor in Texas for a change, but I still believe it will come down to being Perry or Hutchinson, which means the decision will be a done deal after the Republican primary unless someone really steps up to the plate and wins over a whole lot of Texans. Unless you are a Republican, winning over Texans isn’t easy.

1. † I do have to thank Mr. Shami for being the first to develop ammonia-free hair dye. Who knew? That’s not enough to get me to vote for the man, but it does make me eternally grateful. [↩]