East Texas rancher joins Democratic race for governor

BY ANNA M. TINSLEY | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | September 21, 2009

Hank Gilbert

DALLAS — East Texas rancher Hank Gilbert threw his hat into the ring for the governor’s race Monday, saying public education will be a top priority.

Gilbert, a 49-year-old Democrat, kicked off his campaign with a 13-city, three-day tour beginning at a Dallas union hall, saying there are many issues the state needs to address, from education to the economy.

“I think we need new leadership in the state,” said Gilbert, a former teacher and agriculture commissioner candidate in 2006 who lives in Whitehouse, near Tyler. “Obviously the current leadership couldn’t get it done.”

Gilbert focused on education priorities, saying he wants to create a comprehensive education reform package: developing statewide pre-kindergarten programs by 2013, creating a vocational and technical high school track to graduation, strengthening math and science education, and establishing a dropout reform package to keep students in school.

He said he wants an across-the-board $5,000 raise for teachers and a state building fund to help build more schools. And he wants to strip oversight of textbooks and curriculum from the State Board of Education.

“The future of our economy depends on creating school systems that prepare our children to succeed by giving them the knowledge and skills to prosper,” Gilbert said. “It’s the only guaranteed way of bringing long-term prosperity back to this state.”

Gilbert said he will release his plan on how to fund his proposals by mid- to late-November.

His candidacy drew praise from a handful of supporters who attended the event, including John Tackaberry, a Democratic precinct chairman in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas.

“I think he is going to be a great breath of fresh air to the party and will easily sweep the primary,” said Tackaberry, who is retired. “He’s one of the best chances the Democratic Party has to lead the beginning of a statewide takeover.”

Gilbert will vie for the gubernatorial nomination against former ambassador Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth, humorist and entertainer Kinky Friedman, Fort Worth teacher Felix Alvarado and Garland therapist Mark Thompson. Other candidates are likely to join the race.

Republicans vying for their party’s nomination include Gov. Rick Perry; U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison; Debra Medina, a businesswoman from Wharton; and Larry Kilgore of Mansfield.

Gilbert said he’s the best candidate to take on Perry, who he believes will win the GOP nomination.

In 2006, Gilbert received 1.76 million votes in a three-person race for agriculture commissioner, but he lost to Todd Staples, a Republican. That same year, Perry received 1.71 million votes for governor, but that was in a six-person race.