From “Glamour, Guns and Acts of God,” the Economist‘s look at the upcoming Texas gubernatorial battle likely to pit Republican favorite Greg Abbott, a gun-gripping, EPA-suing, wheelchair-bound Attorney General against State Senator and reproductive rights hero Wendy Davis:

“No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994—longer than in any other state. Texas has not backed a Democrat for the White House since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Democrats are desperate to change this. As the Texan population becomes less Anglo and more Hispanic, they think they have a chance. And in Ms Davis, they think they have a champion: one, moreover, whose struggle to keep abortion more widely available in Texas fits the Democratic narrative that Republicans are waging a ‘war on women”

The party ‘need[s] a face,’ says Harold Cook, a Democratic strategist, and Ms Davis is ‘incredibly charismatic.’ With her ‘national celebrity’ she can raise the $40m or so she will need to compete, Mr Cook predicts. He thinks she will appeal to suburban women who have long voted Republican for lack of a credible alternative; and some polls agree. Looking further ahead, some Democrats argue that if they can make Texas competitive, it will have national repercussions. ‘If we win Texas, it’ll be no contest for the White House,’ says Andy Brown, a Democrat running for local office in Travis County, which includes the city of Austin. Yet the smart money still says Ms Davis will lose, unless an independent Tea Party candidate enters the race, in which case all bets are off.”