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Famous filibusterer of Texas

State Sen. Wendy Davis was on her feet speaking for 12 hours to halt a sweeping antiabortion bill.

In the Texas Senate gallery, supporters cheer and chant. Political junkies from coast to coast tuned in via Internet.
In the Texas Senate gallery, supporters cheer and chant. Political junkies from coast to coast tuned in via Internet.Read more

AUSTIN, Texas - As she spoke late into the night, railing against proposed abortion restrictions, a former teen mom catapulted from little-known junior Texas state senator to national political superstar in pink running shoes.

Wendy Davis needed last-minute help from shrieking supporters to run out the clock on the special session of the state Legislature and kill the contentious and sweeping bill, but her old-fashioned filibuster earned her widespread praise from fellow abortion-rights supporters - including a salute from President Obama.

The victory may be short-lived, though. On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Perry called a second special session beginning July 1, giving the Republican majority in the statehouse another 30 days to re-ignite the abortion debate - and likely finish the job this time.

Still, Davis was on her feet for more than 12 hours Tuesday - actively speaking most of that time - as Democrats hoped her one-woman filibuster would derail a measure that would have closed nearly every abortion clinic in the nation's second-most-populous state.

As a midnight deadline loomed and Davis continued to talk, political junkies from coast to coast tuned in via Internet, and the senator's followers on Twitter ballooned from about 1,200 to more than 79,000.

Suddenly, photos of her Mizuno Women's Wave Rider 16 Running Shoes were everywhere, and customers began jamming online sales sites with such comments as the pair was "perfect for a filibuster." Even #StandWithWendy was trending.

Obama's official Twitter account posted: "Something special is happening in Austin tonight."

All this for a 50-year-old, Harvard-trained lawyer and one-time single mother from Fort Worth, who was once dismissed by Perry as a "show horse." Until recently, Davis was perhaps best known for dating former Austin Mayor Will Wynn.

Davis' filibuster ultimately lasted about 11 hours before Republicans complained she had strayed off topic and cut her off. But that action prompted a lengthy debate with Democrats and deafening protests from hundreds of orange-clad abortion-rights activists in the gallery that spilled past the midnight deadline to kill all pending legislation.

Davis started working at age 14 to help support a household of her single mother and three siblings. By 19, she was already married and divorced with a child of her own. After community college, she graduated from Texas Christian University before being accepted to Harvard Law School.

She returned to Texas to become a Fort Worth City Council member before upsetting an incumbent Republican for a seat in the state Senate.

An avid runner and cyclist, Davis was in good shape for the physical challenge of standing and talking for nearly half a day.

Rules didn't allow her to sit down, eat, or use the bathroom. At one point, a colleague helped her with a back brace, prompting a complaint from a Republican lawmaker.

"My back hurts," Davis said when it was over. "I don't have a lot of words left."