Texas Monthly names Wendy Davis ‘Bum Steer of the Year’

Despite tons of national exposure, tens of millions of dollars in contributions, and support from high-profile politicians, Wendy Davis was thoroughly trounced in the election for governor – a showing that earned her Texas Monthly’s “Bum Steer of the Year” award.

The magazine pronounced Davis the winner on Wednesday, calling her campaign a “train wreck.”

“No one suggested that 2014 would be the year that the party roared back to life,” the article states.

“No one argued that the Democrats would put the Republicans in a tough spot come Election Day. But did anyone think that Davis, after all the national exposure and all the money that flowed into her coffers, would be throttled so badly by Republican Greg Abbott in her race to become governor?”

Abbott, the Republican who has reigned as attorney general since 2002, captured nearly 60 percent of the total vote on Nov. 4, giving him the right to replace Gov. Rick Perry.

“For Davis, her campaign started poorly—this magazine compared her rollout to the debut of the Bag o’ Glass from Mainway Toys—and things seemed to only go downhill from there,” the article states.

“Infighting! Staff shake-ups! Tension with the press! Missteps over her own biography! And to add insult to injury, after the dust had settled, the state Senate seat she gave up to run against Abbott was claimed by a Republican. Davis may be out of politics for now, but she didn’t walk away empty-handed: she is our Bum Steer of the Year.”

Texas Democrats have not won a statewide race since 1994.

Last year, Davis entered the national spotlight after filibustering a bill restricting abortion access, giving more liberal Texans hope a Democrat could be elected to a state office for the first time in two decades.