AUSTIN — Democratic Party officials confirmed Wednesday that Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez -- the state's first Hispanic lesbian sheriff -- plans to resign from her current post and is planning to run for Texas governor as a Democrat.

If she files as a candidate next week, as Democratic Party officials said she plans to, Valdez would likely be viewed as the frontrunner in a crowded field. Whoever wins the right to take on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will face an incumbent who ranks high in popularity polls in a GOP-majority state and has a campaign war chest of more than $50 million.

But Valdez, who publicly locked horns with Abbott two years ago over his demand that she comply with federal authorities' demands on the deportation of undocumented immigrants who were in jail, would have several pluses with the Democratic Party base in Texas: She is Hispanic, a member of the LGBTQ community and she gave a prime-time speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that nominated Hillary Clinton for president.

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She has also widely been reported to be a personal choice of state Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa to be the 2018 standard-bearer for a party that has not won a statewide office since 1995.

In 2014, Abbott the office won over then-Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis by more than 20 percentage points.

For her part, Valdez offered no immediate details on her plans. There were widespread media reports Wednesday that she had already submitted her resignation, but late Wednesday her office released a statement saying it hadn't happened yet. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also released a statement saying he had not gotten Valdez's resignation letter as of Wednesday evening, but party insiders said it's expected to be effective Dec. 8 — three days before the filing period for candidates ends.

The statement from Valdez's office said: "As she has stated in the past, the Sheriff is considering the next stage in her career. A letter of resignation was not submitted today. The Sheriff will make a formal announcement when her final decision is made."

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The 70-year-old, who won her fourth term as sheriff last year with 58 percent of the vote, had confirmed earlier this month that she was contemplating a run against Abbott.

Valdez was born to migrant farmworkers and raised in San Antonio, attained the rank of captain in the U.S. Army and worked stints as a jailer and federal prison guard.

She subsequently served is an investigator in federal agencies including the U.S. Customs Service, where she led an anti-smuggling campaign, and as a senior agent in the U.S.Department of Homeland Security, from which she retired in 2004 to run for sheriff.

As word spread in Dallas on Wednesday that she was resigning, a half-dozen local officials expressed interest in possibly replacing her.

Should the Democratic Party embrace Valdez as their showcase state-office candidate in the 2018 elections, as several have predicted in recent weeks should she file for governor, the move would end months of speculation and apparent angst for the party leadership over who they might field — a list that included big-name luminaries such as U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, actress Eva Longoria and even a second try by Davis.

None signed on.

Already announced as candidates for governor are Democrats Jeffrey Payne, a Dallas businessman; Tom Wakely, a San Antonio businessman, and Andrew White, a Houston entrepreneur and son of former Gov. Mark White.

Wakely, who has characterized himself as liberal Democrat "Bernie Sanders in a cowboy hat," has filed. Payne said Wednesday he plans to file on Monday. And White indicated Monday he is poised to become a candidate next week.

Blue wave in Dallas

Valdez has been Dallas County sheriff since 2005, after she defeated a Republican for the job and led what became a blue wave of Democrats capturing county offices in the Dallas area.

As sheriff, she oversees a budget of more than $132 million and the nation's seventh-largest jail.

She considered challenging Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's reelection bid in 2014, but backed out.

While Democrats cheered the news Wednesday that Valdez appeared headed to candidate status to challenge Abbott, they acknowledged she faces an uphill battle because of her late start and lack of a campaign fund to match Abbott's.

"She's got a sterling record in Dallas as sheriff, but it's going to be an uphill battle for anyone to beat Abbott," said Glenn Smith, a longtime Democratic Party consultant in Austin. "But it can be done ... I think Houston and Houston's fate could determine this election. It's a dire circumstance in Houston (in recovering from Hurricane Harvey) because they have only received a quarter of the money they need for the recovery."

"I think that's going to be an issue in the general election in a year."

For their part, Republican consultants said privately that the Democratic challengers will spend much of their money trying to get elected in the four-way race in the Democratic primary next March, which will make it even tougher for them to finance a competitive campaign against Abbott in the November general election."

Republican consultants said privately they were elated at the possibility that Valdez might run, since she showcases many things that polls show most Texas voters disagree with.

In addition, outside the Dallas area she has little name ID with voters — a key to winning a statewide election, they said. They noted that most of the announced Democratic challengers are obscure, except perhaps for White, who Democratic Party leaders including Davis have criticized in recent weeks as too conservative, in addition to his pro-life stance.

Key issues

Even so, Democrats countered Wednesday that Valdez will be a high-profile candidate with Hispanics in Texas — a voting bloc that Republicans have courted for years with mixed success, and that Democrats have held out as their biggest hope for winning statewide offices again after a drought of more than two decades.

Among the issues Valdez is perhaps best known for statewide is her stance two years ago that the Dallas County jail would no longer hold undocumented immigrants for more than 48 hours after their release date if federal immigration agents did not pick them up.

While Abbott warned her in a stern letter to comply with federal immigration law, he focused most of his ire on Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez — even cutting off state funds to her agency for refusing to follow Abbott's order.

Valdez revisited that issue last July, when Abbott defended a new state law banning sanctuary cities in a speech to the Sheriff's Association of Texas. She criticized the new law as unfair.

Abbott's campaign did not respond Wednesday to requests for comment.

For his part, White reiterated Wednesday what he told the Houston Chronicle two days earlier: That he is moving ahead with his plans to run and will have an announcement next week.

Mike Ward covers state government and politics, including the executive branch, criminal justice and ethics issues, in the Houston Chronicle's Austin Bureau. Send him tips at mike.ward@chron.com and follow him on Twitter @ChronicleMike.