The 2014 race for the position of Governor of Texas is shaping up to be a fierce showdown between Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat underdog darling Wendy Davis.
Lisa Fritsch, recently announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Texas. She stated, “Texas, you are beautiful, you are strong, and you are true. I am here to share with you a dream bigger than I have dreamt for myself. And, the calling to stand with you, represent you, and be true to you, gives me the strength to stand here today asking you to consider a new way for us to govern in Texas,” she declared. “It’s time for us to get real about who we elect to represent our values, advocate for our families, and look out for the interests of the people – all people in Texas. It is time for us to be energized by a leader who inspires true change from the old guard, who calls us towards a united Texas, and a Texas where we lead because we are called to serve not simply because it is the natural tide of our own political ambition.”
A commentator on KLBJ-AM radio for nearly a decade, Fritsch is also the author of a book – Obama, Tea Parties and God: What it means to be a an American, a Conservative and a Christian – which she wrote as a reflection of her own mixed feelings with Obama’s ascension to the presidency. She was proud of her country, electing an African-American president – but “my views were at odds with his and that was difficult for me, to know that I would not be part of it. I also talk about how I became part of the tea party – reluctantly at first.”
Fritsch said the Republican Party needs more diverse faces and voices.
Fritsch is a native of Tyler, Texas, and received her degree in Japanese language and literature from UT.
The daughter of a single mother, Fritsch credits her mom with instilling her conservative values, recalling how she cultivated a sense of independence from the state, no matter how dire their situation.
As a child, when Fritsch grew embarrassed of her mother’s job as a checkout girl at Piggly Wiggly, her mother replied, “Those same children who are laughing at you are the ones I am checking out with food stamps. I would rather us starve, before I let someone trap us in a system that robs us of our dignity to take care of ourselves.”
