In case anyone needed another sign Gov. Greg Abbott is nervous about November, he announced plans to hold an “affordability roundtable” Tuesday afternoon in the Republican-leaning Houston suburb of Pasadena.
The Republican governor’s sudden interest in affordability comes after a $10 million ad buy in which he positioned himself as a tireless defender against Democrats’ “socialist policies.” Abbott is also staging the roundtable after President Donald Trump, a key ally, repeatedly dismissed the issue as a “hoax” ginned up by Democrats.
UT-San Antonio political scientist Jon Taylor said the roundtable suggests Abbott and his team are concerned about recent poll numbers showing his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, closing in despite the governor’s massive fundraising advantage.
In recent weeks, Abbott announced a pause on new data center development after Hinojosa called for new restrictions on the energy- and water-hogging computing centers.
Last Friday, the governor ordered state agencies to pause funding for Flock cameras — a move that came days after Hinojosa launched new ads blaming him for the spread of the devices, which she called a tool for “warrantless surveillance.”
“Abbott’s internal polling must be terrifying for him to be flip-flopping on this many issues,” Taylor said. “They have got to be sweating right now.”
Abbott has won by comfortable margins in his past three elections, but he faces serious headwinds in the midterms as Trump’s unpopularity, high gas prices and other factors work in Democrats’ favor, according to political observers.
So far this cycle, Abbott has appeared more interested in rallying the same Republican base that’s reliably kept him in office, Taylor said. His recent shifts on data centers, Flock cameras and now affordability are noticeably contradictory to early positions he staked out as pro-business, law-and-order governor eager to take credit for the strength of Texas’ economy, according to the professor.
“It’s almost like Greg Abbott is running against Greg Abbott,” Taylor added.
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