Wendy Davis reports $12M in donations to Texas governor campaign

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat who filibustered an abortion bill, announced Wednesday she has raised $12 million for her gubernatorial campaign.

A report posted online by Wendy R. Davis for Governor Inc. said the largest contribution, $1 million, was from Dr. Carolyn Oliver, who practices in Austin, the Houston Chronicle reported. While the committee said it has raised $4.2 million, Davis said she had raised a total of $12.2 million, including donations to the Texas Victory Committee.

Davis's filibuster last summer against a bill to restrict abortions made her nationally known but was ultimately unsuccessful in stopping the legislation.

In an interview Wednesday on NBC's "Today," she discussed her new fame.

"I'm not an overnight sensation. I'm a Texan. And I'm a Texas success story," she said. "I am the epitome of hard work and optimism."

Davis talked about her own experience as a teenage mother who was divorced by the time she was 19. She lived in a trailer park with her young daughter while she attended community college and worked two jobs.

"I've tried really hard not to put this in the rear view mirror. I've tried to keep it present," she said during a visit to the trailer park filmed by "Today."

Davis eventually went on to get a degree from Harvard Law School.