By KATIE GLUECK FOR POLITICO -Wendy Davis, the Democratic state senator whose abortion filibuster catapulted her to national fame, announced Thursday that she will run for Texas governor, a race that looks to be a banner 2014 contest.“In Austin today, our current leadership thinks promises are just something you make to the people who write big checks,” she said. “But the promise I’m talking about is bigger than that. It’s the promise of a better tomorrow for everyone. Texans deserves a leader who will protect this promise. Texas deserves a leader who will keep it.”

Davis will face off with Republican candidate Greg Abbott, the conservative state’s well-funded attorney general. She made the announcement, which was all but official, at a rally in Haltom City, Texas, in the building where she received her high school diploma.PHOTOS: Wendy Davis’s filibuster“Thirty-two years ago, I walked across this stage, the granddaughter of farmers from Muleshoe, Texas who could only afford to rent the land they farmed,” she said. “I had no real idea what the future looked like. Today, I see it pretty clearly. It’s staring right at me. It’s you. It’s all of you. And all of you deserve to have your voices heard. Because our future is brightest when it’s lit by everyone’s star.“And that’s why, today, I’m proud to announce my candidacy to be the 48th governor of this great state,” she continued, to cheers.Davis, from Fort Worth, stole the spotlight this summer when she mounted a lengthy abortion filibuster, temporarily derailing a restrictive measure. But in Texas, she talks much more about another filibuster: one she staged protesting education cuts, in 2011.

via Wendy Davis launches bid for Texas governor – Katie Glueck – POLITICO.com.