Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Melissa Phillip Houston Chronicle Mayor Bill White plans to tour the state in search of votes in January.

Mayor Bill White officially jumped into the increasingly crowded field of candidates vying for a U.S. Senate seat Tuesday, touting his grasp on energy issues and his experience running the nation's fourth largest city.

The race to replace Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is expected to relinquish the seat to run for governor, is shaping up as a dynamic, unpredictable contest featuring a host of prominent elected officials from both parties, many who have long had their eyes on the post.

So far, the list of candidates who have said they plan to run includes at least one other prominent Democrat — former Texas Comptroller John Sharp.

The list of Republicans is growing by the day. Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams threw his hat in Tuesday, joining former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams, Texas Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, insurance sales manager Scott Nichol and state Sen. Florence Shapiro, of Plano.

Other rumored GOP possibilities are Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Attorney General Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, of Fort Worth.

White's announcement, made officially in an online video Tuesday afternoon, ended months of speculation about the next step for White, an attorney and former deputy energy secretary whom many Democrats had grown to see as their party's best chance for taking back the governor's mansion.

The popular three-term mayor, barred from re-election by term limits, said he wanted to continue as a public servant.

"I think I can make a contribution. I love this state," White told reporters in the basement of City Hall, shortly after the video release.

"Right now, a lot of our issues in Texas and in the city of Houston, for that matter, involve federal issues, like how do we deal with uninsured people who have health care needs ... essentially, it has to do with a broken federal health care system. Higher education throughout the country is suffering because states don't have enough revenue to finance all of the scholarships they need."

Plans state tour in January

White will take questions again today after visiting supporters Tuesday night in the Rio Grande Valley. Aides said White, 54, plans a statewide tour in January to introduce himself to voters.

Hutchison, who formed a state campaign committee and put $1 million into it earlier this month, has indicated she will resign from office late next year if she ultimately decides to run for governor. Gov. Rick Perry, who already has said he intends to run for re-election, would appoint a temporary successor to her seat. Voters likely would choose her replacement in a multi-candidate special election in November 2009 or May 2010, depending on when she steps aside.

That could eliminate the bruising primary seasons that often focus on party dogma, potentially elevate the importance of fundraising and name recognition and possibly minimize the built-in GOP advantage in Texas. Republicans still carry statewide office by six to eight percentage points, strategists said.

Geography also will play a key role, sources said. Since special elections often feature a gaggle of candidates, anyone with a strong advantage in one area has a greater ability to win enough votes to make a runoff. For White, who was re-elected in 2007 with more than 86 percent of the vote, Harris County could be that base. And because a handful of candidates who have expressed interest in running are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the strength of any one of them could be diluted, political operatives said.

Other factors include President-elect Barack Obama's performance during his first year, the turbulent economy, and, in Texas, an unusually long period of political jockeying while candidates across the state position themselves for the special race.

"It's the Wild West out there, and I think that's particularly true in the next few months," said James Henson, who directs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. "A lot of the normal rules don't apply. ... It's gonna be nuts."

In the Web video, White spoke simply and directly to the camera. He touted Houston's job growth and "fiscal discipline" during his time leading the city and emphasized his passion for national energy policy, claiming he knew how to move the nation toward energy independence.

"We know that decisions made in Washington will affect our lives in a major way," he said, citing turbulent economic times, a rising federal deficit and high unemployment rates. "But this may be an opportunity for our nation to do things it has only dreamed of before."

White also characterized himself as the son of modest schoolteachers from San Antonio who "didn't have a lot of money" but stressed the importance of "love, faith and honesty and belief in hard work and public service."

The brief online introduction carried echoes of the recently concluded presidential race, in which use of the Internet revolutionized the ability of candidates to speak to voters directly and raise vast amounts of money in relatively short periods of time.

Stressing domestic issues

Speaking with reporters at City Hall, White indicated his Senate agenda would address domestic issues rather than international problems such as the Iraq war: "A lot of our citizens, they're more concerned about just being safe in their houses and free from gangs and narcotics than they are in trying to make a city safe halfway around the world. We are asking ourselves what 'homeland security' really means."

White also alluded to his experience with federal bureaucracies after guiding the city through Hurricane Ike.

"We have citizens right now who can't get FEMA reimbursement for roofs that were blown off, you know, months ago. I think I can have an impact on that based on what I've learned," he said.

Many had speculated that White would run for governor because it is a better fit for his results-oriented executive personality. Behind the scenes at City Hall, White is known for high expectations and brooks no excuses from underlings.

"I don't think it was his initial ideal," said Councilman Ron Green of the choice for Senate. "He is an executive, and I think it's going to be an adjustment for him. But he can be a good team player."

If White had run for governor, it would have been harder to win because both he and Hutchison have bipartisan "crossover" appeal, Green said. "In the Senate (race), he's up against a weaker opponent."

Councilwoman Sue Lovell said White's cooperative skills play out behind the scenes, and he would do fine in a legislative capacity.

"He really insists on having consensus before ever bringing anything on to the (council) agenda. And that's why the council gets along so well ... ," she said.