Davis Defends Past, Says She Has Joint Custody

Davis defends story, says she and ex-husband had joint custody after divorce

Democratic candidate for Texas governor Wendy Davis is defending allegations that aspects of her life story are blurred while trying to stay focused on the campaign issues at hand.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, the Davis campaign attempted to shift attention away from two-days of criticism that Davis has not been completely forthright in telling her life story.

The Fort Worth senator reiterated her refusal to discuss the volatile end to her second marriage, except to say there are two sides to every story. She has been defending her story following a report in The Dallas Morning News that questioned her age at the time of her first divorce and said her second husband, Jeff Davis, was granted custody of the children in their divorce.

However, in a call to NBC 5's Julie Fine on Tuesday afternoon, the Davis camp said they wanted to clarify that when Davis and her second husband divorced the decree showed that they had joint custody.  Davis said her children did live with her ex-husband for a period of time, but that they shared joint custody of the children.

Earlier in the afternoon, the gubernatorial candidate released a statement on her website defending her personal story.

In short, she said, "Mine is a story about a teenage single mother who struggled to keep her young family afloat. It’s a story about a young woman who was given a precious opportunity to work her way up in the world. It’s a story about resiliency, and sacrifice, and perseverance.  And you’re damn right it’s a true story."

Davis is the only credible candidate for the Democratic nomination. Her likely Republican opponent is Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail Davis has promised to veto a state income tax to pay for public schools and expand where people may carry their handguns if elected. A state judge has declared the Texas school finance law unfair and insufficient while some others have called for a state income tax.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us