Wendy Davis jumped into two contentious issues last week. One was whether Texas has sufficient electricity generating capacity to serve the state’s residential and industrial consumers without causing electric rates to rise precipitously. The Texas Association of Manufacturers has already voiced its opposition to a capacity market, which, according to some estimates, could cause rate increases in the billions of dollars. “I trust that you will agree with me that Texans should not have to tolerate an outcome from your Commission’s decision-making that would raise their utility rates while simultaneously failing to ensure a better guaranty that our lights will come on when we flip the switch,” Davis wrote in a letter to utility commission Chair Donna Nelson. Greg Abbott has not entered the debate over the electric power issue, but he should be concerned that major industrial groups are alarmed by potential changes in the electricity marketplace.
The other contentious issue is education. This is going to be a major battleground in the governor’s race. Abbott and Davis exchanged jabs over the $5 billion in education cuts made by the Legislature during the 2011 legislative session. Abbott challenged Davis’ criticism of him for defending the cuts, asking whether she believed he should not have gone to court to back the Legislature’s decision to slash spending. In a statement Wednesday, Davis said had she been governor, the issue wouldn’t have gotten that far, adding, “I would have vetoed the bill.“ It appears to me that the Davis campaign is trying to put the issue of “Where’s Wendy?” to rest.
(Image via AP)
