I've been saying for a while that the TX-GOV race is a sleeper potential pickup for Dems in the fall, and the money race so far suggests it could well be. Former Houston Mayor Bill White led all candidates in January fundraising totals, almost tripling Kay Bailey Hutchison's fundraising, and ahead of Rick Perry for January. (And 300x more than his nominal primary opponent.)
Admittedly, the Cash on Hand numbers are a bit less rosy--White has 6.5M in the bank, while the major GOP candidates each have around 10M--but they still have a bruising primary to get through, and have been spending out the wazoo--KBH spent over 10x what she raised in January, and Perry spent more than double what he raised. In contrast, White raised triple what he spent. And, he's now up on the air in English as well as speaking more than passable Spanish, keeping it positive while the GOP primary results in a stampede to the right.
This is still going to be a tough race, make no mistake, but there's a reason Texas Monthly wrote a fawning profile. He's the real thing.