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Texas
Governor
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Nov. 8,
2022 Governor
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TX
Secretary of State
Notes: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) won a third term, defeating former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D) as well as Delilah Barrios (G) and Mark Tippetts (L) (1, 2). Abbott and O'Rourke participated in the only scheduled debate, organized by Nexstar Media Group, in Edinburg on Sept. 30 (>). This contest was one of the most expensive governor's races of the cycle with total spending of more than $200 million; Transparency USA shows that through Oct. 29 the Abbott campaign spent $141.3 million and the O'Rourke campaign $70.1 million (>). Texas has no contribution limits. In the months following the March 1, 2022 primary, Texas made national headlines over immigration, gun violence and abortion: - Back in Mar. 2021 Abbott had launched Operation Lone Star to combat smuggling of people and drugs across the border. On April 6, 2022 he announced further "aggressive" and "unprecedented" action to secure the border, including a plan to "charter buses and flights to transport migrants who have been processed and released from federal custody to Washington, D.C." By Sept. 30, Abbott's office reported over 8,100 migrants had been bused to Washington, DC, and buses to New York and Chicago had been added. On June 27, in a horrific incident of human smuggling, dozens of migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer abandoned near San Antonio; the death toll reached 53 people. - On May 24 the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde horrified the nation. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed. The shock was so great that in one month Congress passed, and President Biden signed into law, a bipartisan gun safety bill. The Uvalde families have been very active throughout the election year. - Following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 24 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Texas drew attention for having one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation, as a result of the heartbeat bill signed by Gov. Abbott on May 19, 2021 (>). Primaries Abbott had a clear conservative record to run on (+), but did have some setbacks, most notably the Feb. 2021 failure of Texas power grid which caused at least 57 deaths (>). As he prepared his re-election bid, Abbott drew criticism from the right on a host of issues. True Texas Project, a group that advocates "Constitutional government, national sovereignty, fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, and rule of law" captured the dissatisfaction, arguing for "anybody but Abbott." "Is the border secure? Are your taxes lower? Are you confident in your elections? Are children protected? Are we safe from federal government over reach? The answer to all those questions is a resounding 'NO!' (+)." Challenging Abbott from the right in the Mar. 1, 2022 Republican primary were former Texas Republican Party chairman and U.S. Rep. Allen B. West, real estate developer and former state Sen. Don Huffines, commentator and entertainer Chad Prather, and four others. Countering critics, former President Trump endorsed Abbott in a June 1, 2021 statement, terming him "a fighter and a Great Governor for the incredible people of Texas." Abbott formally announced his candidacy on Jan. 8, 2022 at a Hispanic Leadership Summit in McAllen in the Rio Grande Valley (>). He declined to debate, but Huffines, Prather and West engaged in several candidate debates and forums including events hosted Wise County Conservatives on Oct. 27, 2021 (>), True Texas Project on Jan. 14, 2022 (>) and Coastal Bend Republican Coalition on Jan. 26 (>). When the votes were tallied, Abbott won 66.48% of the vote in the primary, defeating West (12.26%), Huffines (11.98%), Prather (3.80%) and the rest of the field. O'Rourke, who served as congressman representing El Paso for three terms, waged an energetic challenge to Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in the 2018 U.S. Senate race, but ultimately lost by 2.56 percentage points. O'Rourke then sought the Democratic presidential nomination; he started with an immense amount of buzz in Mar. 2019 but his campaign fell flat in the crowded field and he exited on Nov. 1, 2019 before the first votes were cast (+). In 2020 O'Rourke focused on voter registration and contact through his group Powered by People (+). On Nov. 15, 2021 O'Rourke announced his candidacy for governor (>). He pointed specifically to the Feb. 2021 failure of Texas power grid as a symptom of a much larger problem. O'Rourke easily won the March 1 Democratic primary, garnering 91.41% of the vote against four candidates. Campaign Managers: Greg Abbott: Gardner Pate, Campaign Director (Dec. 2021) Deputy chief of staff to Gov. Abbott, Mar. 2020-Nov. 2021. Director of policy and general counsel to Speaker Dennis Bonnen, Jan. 2019-Feb. 2020. Attorney at Gardner Pate PLLC in Austin, Feb.-Dec. 2018. Partner at Locke Lord LLP, Sept. 2007-Jan. 2018. J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, 2007; B.B.A. in finance from Texas McCombs School of Business, 2004. Beto O'Rourke: Nick Rathod (Nov. 2021) Founder of UpRising Strategies LLC, June 2018-Nov. 2021. Founder and executive director of State Innovation Exchange (SIX), May 2014-Mar. 2018. Assistant director for intergovernmental affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Sept. 2011-2013. Special assistant to the President and deputy director for intergovernmental affairs at the White House, Jan. 2009-Sept. 2011. Washington, DC political director for NY Gov. David Patterson, Apr. 2007-Nov. 2008. Senior manager of state and regional affairs at the Center for American Progress, 2005-07. Community lawyer and organizer at APALRC, 2003-04. J.D. from American University School of Law; B.A. in political science from Nebraska Wesleyan University, 1997. See also: Justin Miller. "Big Money Floods Into Texas Governor's Race." Texas Observer, Oct. 12, 2022. Dan Solomon. "What Makes Beto Run—Again.?" TexasMonthly, Sept. 13, 2022. Rick Svitek. "With $27.6 million haul, Beto O'Rourke sets a new fundraising record in Texas politics." Texas Tribune, July 15, 2022. Mimi Swartz. "Who Is Greg Abbott?" TexasMonthly, May 2022. Morgan O'Hanlon. "Why these Texas Republicans say they won't vote for Gov. Greg Abbott." Texas Tribune, Feb. 3, 2022. Joseph Ax and Julia Harte. "Texas governor moves state sharply to the right ahead of 2022 election." Reuters, Oct. 13, 2021. |
  
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