{"id":111759,"date":"2026-01-05T20:54:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/111759\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T20:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:54:12","slug":"houston-businessman-andrew-white-drops-democratic-bid-for-texas-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/111759\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston businessman Andrew White drops Democratic bid for Texas governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston businessman Andrew White <\/a>dropped out of the Democratic race for governor Monday and endorsed state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, a signal that much of the party is consolidating around a single candidate against Republican incumbent Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n

White\u2019s decision gives Hinojosa <\/a>a clearer path in the March 3, but Democrats still face long odds in a Republican-dominated state against Abbott, whose political cash reserves are expected to top $100 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

\u201cOur campaign earned meaningful support across the state,\u201d White said, citing internal polls that placed him second. \u201cBut with the primary just weeks away, the responsible choice is to come together to defeat Greg Abbott and protect our schools, hospitals and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Hinojosa, White\u2019s exit reduces the risk of a prolonged primary fight and allows her to turn earlier to fundraising, organization and focusing squarely on Abbott\u2019s record. <\/p>\n

Political Points<\/p>\n

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\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, listens as the Texas House Democratic Caucus is recognized during the Dallas County Democratic Party\u2019s 2025 Johnson-Jordan Dinner at Gilley’s Dallas in Dallas on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. <\/p>\n

Juan Figueroa \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The son of former Texas Gov. Mark White, White was staging his second run for governor. In 2018 he lost the Democratic nomination to former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who Abbott easily beat for reelection.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"FILE<\/p>\n

During his short-lived candidacy this time, he outlined plans to improve public education, expand access to health care and bolster the Texas economy.<\/p>\n

But White, who said he entered the race over concerns about the state\u2019s response to the Central Texas floods that killed at least 137 people, couldn\u2019t gain traction against Hinojosa of Austin, who like Valdez is considered more progressive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to voting for her twice: once in March and again in November,\u201d he said in an email to supporters.<\/p>\n

\"Democratic<\/p>\n

Democratic senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston during a meeting with the The Dallas Morning News editorial board on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Hinojosa still faces a competitive primary.<\/p>\n

The now eight-person Democratic field includes 2006 Democratic nominee for governor and former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston businessman Andrew White dropped out of the Democratic race for governor Monday and endorsed state Rep. Gina…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[288,392,287,27,29,28],"class_list":{"0":"post-111759","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas","8":"tag-elections","9":"tag-greg-abbott","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-texas-headlines","13":"tag-texas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}