By Dave Montgomery Austin correspondent
AUSTIN – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis said on Tuesday that she plans to throw her support behind Fort Worth neighborhood leader Libby Willis in the race for the Tarrant County state Senate seat Davis has held for more than five years.
Willis defeated Fort Worth oil-and-gas entrepreneur Mike Martinez in the March 4 primary to secure the Democratic nomination in Senate District 10. Tea party leader Konni Burton and former House member Mark Shelton will face each other in a May 27 runoff for the Republican nomination to compete against Willis in the Nov. 4 general election.
“Yes, she will receive my endorsement in the race,” Davis said during a telephone press conference on equal pay legislation. “I think she brings to the voters of Senate District 10 someone who will continue representing the interests of all families.”
During the teleconference, Davis and fellow state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, blasted Republican gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott for not embracing a state version of the federal Lilly Ledbetter act designed to guarantee equal pay for women. Abbott, the Texas attorney general, says he fully supports equal pay for women but has not said whether he would veto the Ledbetter bill, as Gov. Rick Perry did in 2013.
Willis has said that if she succeeds Davis she will fight to resurrect and pass the legislation. Davis sponsored the measure during the 2013 legislative session.