Texas Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis, whose name went viral thanks to a June filibuster against an abortion bill, officially kicked off her campaign for governor on Saturday, as did Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Davis first announced her intention to run at the beginning of October,
reports CNN, but she and Abbott filed their campaign documents in Austin on Saturday, the first day candidates could file their paperwork.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry has said he is not going to seek a fourth term in office. There is wide speculation that Perry, a presidential candidate in 2012, is gearing up for another bid for the White House in 2016, although
he says that it is 'premature' to talk about the 2016 race.
According to the Texas Secretary of State's office, candidates may file paperwork for the primary through December 9.
While Davis' filibuster gathered national attention, she was only able to block the state's strict abortion laws temporarily. It still passed in a later session, and
is facing legal challenges. Meanwhile, the state's abortion clinics must abide by the law's restrictions.
Davis' campaign so far is not focusing on the abortion issue however, but instead on accessible health care and education.
Abbott is known as a staunch conservative, with actions that included a push to display a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas Capitol grounds.
He's also been a thorn in the Obama administration's side, filing lawsuits against it more than 25 times. One of the largest decisions included the case leading to last year's landmark Supreme Court case on Obamacare.
Davis
faces a tough battle for the governor's mansion in the deeply Republican state. The last Democrat to win the top race was Ann Richards in 1990, and Mitt Romney carried Texas over President Barack Obama by 57 percent to 41 percent in the 2012 presidential race.
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