The leading Democratic contenders for governor, different in gender, age, race and ideology, offer disparate strategies on how to beat incumbent Republican Greg Abbott and lead their party out of the political wilderness.

Dallas' Lupe Valdez, 70, was the first Hispanic woman and lesbian elected sheriff in Texas. She promises to energize the slumbering Hispanic electorate, seen by progressives as the key to the party's future. In theory, she appeals to women, blacks and other parts of a fledgling Democratic Party base.

Houston businessman Andrew White, 45, the son of former Texas Gov. Mark White, is a conservative Democrat with the ability to recapture the white, small-town voters who used to be the base of the party, while also connecting with minority voters who have replaced them in relevance.

If campaign cash grew on pecan trees, Democrats would have the resources and wherewithal to communicate with a cross-section of Texas voters. But lacking the finances and infrastructure for broad appeals and persuasions, statewide Democratic hopefuls generally have to pick a narrow approach and hope for the best.

"I don't believe they are diametrically at odds with each other the way most people think they are," said Fort Worth-based consultant J.D. Angle, a top strategist in former state Sen. Wendy Davis' unsuccessful 2014 campaign for governor.

Angle said the goal of Democrats is to ultimately maximize their base of minority, working class and progressive women voters, while drawing a larger share of unaligned white voters.

"You need a well-practiced, well-funded base and structure in a state this big and diverse, and we're a long way away," Angle said.

Still, Democrats don't all agree on the road to a competitive governor's race. Competitive is the key word, because Davis — who had much more money than Valdez or White may be able to raise — lost to Abbott by 20 percentage points four years ago.

"When Democrats carried the small towns, we won," said former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, the party's 1998 nominee for governor who lost to George W. Bush. "If they don't talk to rural voters, they will lose."

Ed Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas, says the party should focus on where its progressive base lives, including minorities in the urban areas, Rio Grande Valley or any place with liberal voters.

"The path for Democrats is to turn left," Espinoza said. "Midterm elections are base elections. They are not looking for Donald Trump light. They are looking for the opposite."

Brianna Brown, the deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project, said the party should talk to all voters, but the progressive path to statewide victories involves mobilizing blacks and Hispanics.

"What we believe is that the path to sustained progressive power is in black and brown voters," she said.

Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, who has long advocated putting more resources into mining Hispanic votes, said the unpopularity of President Donald Trump with independent, Democratic and some Republican voters suggests this is the election cycle to have a greater outreach, including the candidates for governor.

"I don't think it's one to the exclusion of the other, especially this year and with this president."

Republicans are confident Abbott will be re-elected against Valdez or White, and like his approach to the campaign.

"Gov. Abbott is pointing out, to African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and everyone else that across the board everyone is doing great in this Texas economy," said state Rep. Matt Shaheen, R-Plano. "He's expanding the base of our party, and that's important. He's taking the long view and we will be better off for it."

Urban, rural or both?

When Democrats dominated statewide politics, they did so with a fragile coalition of small-town white voters and urban minorities.

White male Democrats used to roam the state, from the pump jacks of West Texas to the Piney Woods of East Texas, until the Ronald Reagan revolution and the conservative movement wiped them out. Now those same rural areas and small towns that were Democratic strongholds are solidly Republican, delivering vote totals for the GOP that make it nearly impossible for the once proud "yellow-dog" Democrats to compete on a statewide basis.

Over the years the divide between Republicans and Democrats has grown more pronounced, as both parties have retreated to the fringe or their most ardent backers. Democrats have become a party powered by a black and Hispanic electorate. Republicans are generally white, male, suburban and rural.

With the Democratic Party's sure-fire growth opportunities anchored in the urban centers and south Texas, the wisdom of trying to recapture rural voters who have to be persuaded to leave the GOP is hotly debated.

The race for governor highlights the conundrum.

For years Democrats crowed that 2018 would be the election cycle that featured a primed Hispanic voter base and candidates to draw them to the polls. Former San Antonio mayor and U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro was anticipated as a candidate for governor.

When he declined to run, Democratic Party operatives sought the likes of his brother, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, former state Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer of San Antonio, state Rep. Rafael Anchia of Dallas and Paul Quinn College President Michael Sorrell of Dallas. All opted against running for governor.

1 / 3Gubernatorial candidate and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez greets people outside Tony G's restaurant before marching in the Martin Luther King Day March on Jan. 15, 2018 in San Antonio. Valdez grew up in San Antonio. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 2 / 3Democratic candidate and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez takes photos with supporters at a campaign kickoff event on Sunday, January 7, 2018 at Tyler Station in Dallas. Valdez is running for governor of Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 3 / 3Democratic candidate and former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, center, greets supporters at a campaign kickoff event on Sunday, January 7, 2018 at Tyler Station in Dallas. Valdez is running for governor of Texas. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

The recruitment then focused on Valdez, who accepted the challenge just before the candidate filing period opened.

"The party has by and large chosen the route of Lupe Valdez," said Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist. "Now we need to see what the voters do."

Jones said that many Valdez backers have the view that Texas will be a solid majority/minority electorate.

"They believe the party's future doesn't hinge on Anglos," Jones said. "That's in the rearview mirror."

On paper, Valdez checks many boxes required of a progressive magnet, but, as the bigger names sought for a run for governor suggest, Democrats don't have enough base voters to ease the burden of Valdez, or any candidate looking to win with Democrats alone.

Valdez disagrees, telling The Dallas Morning News that she would expand the party's base, which made her a better choice than White.

"I'm the candidate of inclusion," she said. "I want to make the Democrat Party bigger. We have the votes out there. I believe I will win."

Betty Richie, a member of the Democratic National Committee and a Dallas resident, said that while mining the base is critical, bumping up the Democratic share of the rural vote just 2 or 3 percentage points could help Democratic candidates on the ballot, including Valdez or White.

"If you cannot get the rural areas energized and get those numbers up, you are not going to win statewide," said Richie, who has not endorsed a candidate for governor.

White also believes that voters outside the urban centers are the magic pill.

He sees an opportunity to pick off moderate, white Republicans and told Texas Monthly that he was a "very conservative Democrat."

"The question is whether the Democratic Party will be able to accept them, or will it be too liberal to accept them," White said of moderate Republicans. "I'm right there in the middle as well. I'm hoping we'll be a conservative party as well that the moderate Republicans will feel comfortable voting for."

Since then, White has avoiding labeling himself, telling The News that he's an outsider with a unique perspective.

"The reality is the party probably needs to do both things," said Jones, the Rice political scientist. "It's tough to prioritize both."

Even if White makes inroads with rural and small town voters, he could be somewhat shaky with the progressive base.

Some Democrats don't trust him on the issue of abortion rights. He says he's personally against abortion but views Roe vs. Wade as the law and would not push for additional abortion restrictions.

Espinoza, the Progress Texas director, publicly released four questions for White, one of which involved abortion, when he entered the race in early December. The first question: "What does it mean to be a conservative in the era of Trump?"

Espinoza has since talked to White and said he's talking about the right issues, as is Valdez.

They both want to improve public education, rail against Abbott's embrace of "fringe issues" and want Texans to have affordable health care.

"But are they going to mobilize the right voters?" Espinoza asked.

Gubernatorial candidate Andrew White speaks during a Democratic gubernatorial candidate forum hosted by Tom Green County Democratic Club on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. Each candidate was allowed five minutes to speak. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Can anyone beat Abbott?

Indeed, some Democrats privately question whether Valdez and White can be competitive, regardless of which voters they court.

Abbott, who in 2014 beat Davis by 20 percentage points, has $43 million in his campaign fund. That total could double when the general election gets in full swing. In contrast, Valdez had $46,000 in her campaign fund on Dec. 31. White has raised more money but had only $104,000 in his account at the start of the year.

Abbott, confident of victory, told The News on Wednesday that one of his goals for re-election was to increase his totals with black and Hispanic voters.

"I've been reaching out, and the outreach is paying off," Abbott said. "Every vote matters."

Even though early voting starts Feb. 20, most big-name Democrats have refused to endorse Valdez or White, choosing instead to focus on soon-to-be Senate nominee Beto O'Rourke, the congressman from El Paso who's challenging incumbent Republican Ted Cruz. O'Rourke has proved an intriguing candidate, taking his message to the urban centers but also GOP strongholds in places like Plano or West Texas.

Many activists, including those at the Texas Organizing Project, are building for the future, although they are expected to make an endorsement in the governor's race. Brown said a goal of TOP is to close the approximate 850,000-voter gap between progressives and conservatives by 2020. That effort is being staged in nine counties, including Dallas, Harris and Bexar.

Democrats have also tuned out the governor's race in favor of down-ballot candidates for Congress, the Texas House and Senate.

There are exceptions. State Rep. Garnet Coleman of Houston has backed White, telling The Texas Tribune that "We don't want people to believe that the Democratic Party is against the white males — and we're not."

Anchia is headlining an upcoming fundraiser for Valdez.

But it's clear that the race for governor has not hit the main stage.

"I believe the marquee race in Texas is Beto O'Rourke vs. Ted Cruz," said Lisa Turner, state director of the Lone Star Project, during an appearance on KXAS (NBC 5) and The Dallas Morning News' Lone Star Politics.

Angle, the Democratic consultant, agreed that the governor's race has not fully engaged Texans.

"At the moment, I don't see a campaign that's reaching voters," he said.