While the endorsement of White may not be surprising given that it's his hometown paper, the timing is something to note. Historically the Chronicle has been one of the last to issue their endorsements, sometimes waiting until after Early Voting has finished to weigh in with their thoughts. With Governor Perry refusing to meet with editorial boards, it's possible that the Chronicle won't be the first paper to move up their endorsement process this year.
Time for a change: The Chronicle endorses former Houston Mayor Bill White for governor of Texas.
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 18, 2010, 4:05PM
Texas faces an unprecedented budget deficit estimated at $21 billion, faltering health care and public education systems, and demands for new energy sources and transportation funding. For nearly a decade, Rick Perry - the longest-serving governor in Lone Star history - has been at the helm of an increasingly wayward ship.
Texas can't afford four more years of Perry's leadership.
The governor has shown a distaste for dealing with budget details, fobbing them off on the Legislature and even suggesting in a recent news conference that Comptroller Susan Combs had better uses of her time than issuing deficit projections.
Fortunately, voters have the opportunity to replace Republican Perry with former Houston Mayor Bill White, a Democrat with credentials as a successful lawyer, corporate CEO and public servant who demonstrated his management capabilities and hard-work ethic during a six-year tenure at City Hall. As he did in Houston, White can bring innovative financial solutions, a passion for environmental protection, and a strong bipartisan and ethical commitment to a governor's office tarnished by charges of cronyism, partisanship and catering to contributors at the expense of constituents.
"Today our state is being run like a political machine to perpetuate Rick Perry in office," said White during his screening with the Chronicle editorial board. Gov. Perry has declined to meet with Texas newspaper editorial boards.
"People want a governor who can bring people together to get things done," White continued. "Leadership is not dividing the state into red teams and blue teams, playing people off against each other. Leadership is not having citizens and journalists have to pry information out of the government when it's funded by the taxpayers."
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