Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Houston Mayor Bill White is considering joining the Democratic primary for Texas governor after J. Thomas Schieffer, former U.S. ambassador to Japan and Australia, dropped out of the race.

White, 55, said he’d decide by Dec. 4 whether to join the race to run to lead the second-largest U.S. state by population, according to a press release issued after Schieffer announced his withdrawal yesterday.

White, prevented by term limits from running a third time for mayor, was weighing a run for the U.S. Senate seat expected to be vacated this month by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is seeking her party’s nomination for governor. After Hutchison said she won’t resign until after the March primary, White said he was asked to consider a bid for governor.

“Senator Hutchison has postponed her departure from the Senate and acknowledged that her continued service limits her ability to campaign,” White said. “I share her belief, and that of her supporters, that we need a new governor.”

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on the winner of the race between Hutchison and Governor Rick Perry, the longest serving governor in state history, who is seeking an unprecedented third term. Hutchison announced her decision not to resign after a Nov. 13 Rasmussen Reports survey showed her trailing Perry, 46 percent to 35 percent.

Schieffer endorsed White, the Texas Tribune Web site reported yesterday. Schieffer was a partner of President George W. Bush and Dallas businessman Edward W. “Rusty” Rose in the Texas Rangers professional baseball team, and crossed party lines to be an ambassador in the Bush administration.

White would face a field of Democrats that includes musician Kinky Friedman, who ran for governor as an independent in 2006, and Houston billionaire Farouk Shami, founder of Farouk Systems Inc; Felix Alvarado, a Fort Worth teacher, and Hank Gilbert, a former candidate for state agriculture commissioner.

To contact the reporter on this story: Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 24, 2009 11:32 EST