Let's say you're a donor to a candidate or an elected official who quits a race mid-campaign or chooses to not run for reelection. What if you made a contribution to one of the nine Texas legislators who decided not to seek reelection this year, or to a former diplomat who toyed with a bid for governor but ultimately thought better of it, or to a tech executive who considered a challenge to a member of Congress but decided against running at the last minute? What happens to your money?

Three Democratic legislators who came out early for Fort Worth's Tom Schieffer in the race for governor say they'll go with Houston Mayor Bill White, who entered the race as Schieffer exited. 

Texas Democrats aren't through with the changes on the statewide ticket. Take a look at this teaser from gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, issued after Hank Gilbert exited the governor's race, set his heart on being agriculture commissioner, and endorsed Farouk Shami.

Bill White's expected to announce for governor today. We'll get you caught up to speed on what led to this day, help flesh out what it all means, and take a quick look ahead.

It's a Bill White-Tom Schieffer-Kinky Friedman-Farouk Shami-Rick Perry mashup to get you caught up on Monday's developments, if you missed them.

Is “eye-gougingly boring” the new “gubernatorial”?

Tom Schieffer's out, and for the sake of this piece, let's say Bill White is running for the Democratic nomination for governor. How's that work out for everybody?

State Reps. Garnet Coleman of Houston, Jim Dunnam of Waco, Jessica Farrar of Houston and Pete Gallego of Alpine got out early in support of Tom Schieffer, who dropped out of the Democratic primary for governor today. Their statement:

What Tom Scheiffer said when he announced he's dropping out of the race for governor:

Bill White is the sort of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer had hoped to be. He's well-funded. He's got an organization and a base of voters. He's the kind of moderate who can attract votes from independents and not just Democrats. And he never voted for George W. Bush.

The race for governor has a future in radio.

Farouk Shami, a hair stylist turned hair products entrepreneur, will announce his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor this week.