AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — The stage is set in Texas for the November midterm elections as an incumbent Republican governor thwarted his primary challengers and Democrats selected which candidate they hope will snag the state's top office.
Polling for weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election suggested the race for governor was set long ago between Republican Governor Greg Abbott and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke. Abbott is seeking to remain in the state's highest position for a third term, while O’Rourke is vying to become the first Democratic governor in 27 years.
Abbott has been a fixture of Texas politics since the early 2000s having served as an associate justice of the Texas Supreme Court and Attorney General before being elected governor in 2015.
Texas has long been a bastion of conservative politics, but many GOP voters in the state have moved even further right in recent years, especially after President Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump two years ago. Trump has endorsed Governor Abbott in the race.
Last year, Abbott signed numerous bills into law that align with the current values of many in the Republican Party. Such bills include one allowing Texans to carry a handgun without a license, one banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a voting restrictions bill that banned forms of in-person voting and created new identification requirements to vote by mail, and a prohibition on transgender youth from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity. Abbott has used his legislative successes as a message to voters of why he deserves another four years in office.
A core piece of Abbott’s reelection campaign has been focused on continuing the Trump Administration’s mission to build a wall on the U.S.–Mexico Border and ban what he and Republican lawmakers call Critical Race Theory in Texas public schools.
But many have complained Abbott still isn't right enough. The incumbent had to overcome seven GOP challengers, including former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West, former state Senator Don Huffines and conservative political commentator Chad Prather. All three challenged Abbott for his actions at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, when he implemented a statewide mask mandate and issued a stay-at-home order.
With 92% of counties reporting as of 11 p.m., Abbott secured his party’s nomination with 67.7% of the vote, leaving his top two challengers, Huffines and West, nearly tied at 11.3% and 11.8% respectively, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
Huffines said in a statement that while he did not secure the nomination, he was victorious in pushing Abbott further right.
“When I entered the race, Greg Abbott opposed the border wall, was silent on sex-change surgeries for kids, allowed CRT in Texas classrooms and agencies, and even refused to stop vaccine mandates,” said Huffines. “Our campaign forced him to address each of these issues and deliver outcomes that will help everyday Texans.”
O’Rourke beat out four candidates to become the Democrats' nominee to take on Abbott in the fall. The El Paso native gained over 90% of the vote. Challengers polled in the low single digits, with former journalist Joy Diaz receiving 3.4% of the vote and Beaumont NAACP President Michael Cooper receiving 1.7%.
Since announcing his run for governor last November, O’Rourke has been bouncing across the state making the case that Abbott is not fit to lead and points to last year’s deadly winter storm as evidence. His proposal includes connecting Texas to the national electric grid and investing in energy efficiency programs.
While the electrical grid and fallout from the winter storm have been core pieces of O’Rourke’s campaign for governor, he is also running on a platform of reversing Abbott's recent accomplishments, including the state's ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, the bill allowing permitless carry of handguns and he wants to enact same-day and online voter registration. Other campaign promises include legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid and investing in clean energy production.
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