AUSTIN—Hurricane Ike will blow in some risks, and perhaps a few opportunities, for the city’s most visible politician—Houston Mayor Bill White.

It was, after all, a couple of tempests in the Gulf of Mexico that put White at top of the list of Democrats who could actually win statewide office—a feat that has eluded the once-dominant party for more than a decade.

White got high marks for welcoming the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina into the nation’s fourth largest city in 2005. And he somehow deflected most of the blame from the chaotic evacuation of Houston during Hurricane Rita a few weeks later, said University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray.

“White sort of had these hurricanes that defined him, generally favorably,” Murray said. “If you’re not a klutz, you can usually make a natural disaster a plus.”

White and his counterparts in Harris County government are taking a decidedly different approach on Ike. They’re telling inland residents to stay put in order to avoid the kind of gridlock that cost lives as Rita hit the Texas coast.

The evacuation killed 110 people, far more than those who were killed by the storm itself. But Murray said most residents ended up blaming state and federal officials more than they faulted White.

At a news conference this week, White said local officials “for weeks and months” have been encouraging residents to plan ahead for hurricane season. And as Ike roars ashore, he called on citizens to show the kind of compassion many were applauded for during Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.

“Nothing good happens from a hurricane that hits right close to you,” White said. “I would ask all Houstonians to think about their neighbors.”

The son of schoolteachers, White made a fortune as a Houston attorney before leaving his practice in 1993 to join Bill Clinton’s Cabinet as deputy energy secretary. He resigned in 1995 to become state Democratic chairman, then made another fortune in private business before embarking on the costliest mayoral race in Houston history in 2003.

He spent more than $2 million of his own money and $6 million from contributors, eventually winning a runoff against a Republican former city councilman. Now many see the Democrat, barred by term limits from another run as mayor, as the party’s best hope in a state dominated by Republicans. He’s often mentioned as a candidate for the U.S. Senate or a possible gubernatorial bid in 2010.

White remained coy last year when asked about his next move.

“I’m not real keen on people who seem to spend more time thinking about what office they’ll run for next rather than what they’re doing every day in their current job,” he said.