Dec.31, 2009, 12:00 AM

Austin businessman Marc Katz says a multimillion-dollar contribution is forthcoming from relatives to aid his Democratic bid for lieutenant governor, which will allow him to buy TV ads and mount a credible race in the March 2 primary.

Katz, longtime owner of a delicatessen on Austin's famous Sixth Street, filed papers Wednesday at state Democratic Party headquarters to seek the office. He said that unnamed relatives will make a "huge, milestone contribution" to his campaign. He promised more details Friday.

"It's in the millions," Katz said. Relatives who will write the checks live in New York, California and Florida, he said.

"So if it is partially going to be all about the money, I've got a message, and I've got the money to put it out there," Katz said.

Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a rival Democrat running for lieutenant governor, said it's troubling that Katz would try to place bank accounts above "ideas, experience and a record of service."

"I intend to ask thousands of Texans for a few of their dollars instead of a few people from out of state for millions of their dollars," he said.

For years, Earle has criticized big money's influence in state politics, and he is known for prosecuting former U.S. House Majority Tom DeLay on a charge of campaign money laundering.

A third Democrat, national labor leader Linda Chavez-Thompson, also has expressed interest in the lieutenant governor's race. Incumbent David Dewhurst is unopposed so far in the GOP primary. Candidates have until Monday to join the race.

Katz, 62, is making his first statewide race. He ran unsuccessfully for Austin mayor in 2003.

He said Republican domination of state government over the past decade or so has been "a mind-numbing mediocrity."

Katz, who called himself a progressive populist, said Texas' GOP state leaders have helped only the wealthy, letting public schools and social services deteriorate.

He said unemployed Texans' long waits for decisions on their food stamp applications this year is evidence of "arrogance" by state leaders, including Dewhurst.

Efforts to obtain comment from Dewhurst's campaign were unsuccessful.