Top D's to square off in TX gov. debate

FORT WORTH, Texas (KXAN) - There are three weeks to go until the primary, and the state’s top two Democratic candidates for governor will square off for the first time in Fort Worth Monday evening.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White and hair-care mogul and millionaire Farouk Shami will take their ideas before a live audience for the hour-long debate.

Similar to the Jan. 14 debate sponsored by public broadcast station KERA, moderators and members of the audience will ask Shami and White questions.

Though White has extensive political experience as a three-term mayor of one of Texas’ largest cities, Shami is new to the political arena.

Palestinian-born Shami, however, is no stranger to challenges. Coming to the United States with little money in his pocket, Shami built a multimillion dollar hair-care empire and invented the CHI, a hugely popular hair-straightening tool sold worldwide.

Shami plans to use his business acumen as the main selling point of his candidacy, pointing out that jobs are needed more than anything else in this economic climate. At the beginning of his campaign, Shami said he planned to open solar panel factories in cities across Texas as he campaigned for votes.

White has been concentrating more on education throughout his campaign tour. A son of teachers, White has repeatedly said Texas needs to improve its school system in order to prepare the state for a bright and prosperous future.

An extremely popular mayor, White has captured the support of the more mainstream Democratic leaders in the state and has raised more in contributions than his competitor. Shami, however, has committed $10 million of his own money to the campaign.

Though there are five other candidates on the Democratic ballot for governor, KERA only invited Shami and White to the debate based on the results of their nonpartisan poll - which showed these two men as the only ones with support from at least six percent of primary voters.

The debate will begin at 7 p.m.