Well, that’s gotta sting.
Despite swirling speculation that Gov. Greg Abbott covets the nation’s highest office, a straw poll at last week’s conservative CPAC conference in Dallas shows just 1% of attendees would back a 2028 presidential candidacy by the Texas Republican.
That puts Abbott on par with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who scored the same percentage. Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — who had a spectacular flameout in the 2024 GOP primary — and Donald Trump Jr., who’s never held public office in his life, both placed ahead of Abbott with 2%.
Vice President JD Vance led the pack with 53%, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled 35%. A total of 3% of attendees said they were undecided.
All in all, that adds up to an anemic showing for Abbott from a right-wing, Texas-skewing audience.
Still, the outcome isn’t surprising to Southern Methodist University political scientist Cal Jillson. Abbott usually fails to rank better than seventh or eighth in polls showing who Republican voters would next like to see run for president, the professor points out.
Indeed, other Texas governors, John Connally and Rick Perry among them, also had a hard time leveraging popularity in the Lone Star State to the national stage, Jillson said.
“The aspirational message you deliver in Texas is, ‘I’m your governor and I cut your taxes and fought these regulations,’ but if you’re going to run at the national level, it has to go beyond that,” Jillson said. “You have to have a plan on education, you have to be able to say something about healthcare. There has to be more.”
Given Texas’ apparent race to the bottom on education — it ranks in the lowest 10 states in per-student funding — and healthcare — it has the nation’s highest rate of uninsured residents — it seems unlikely Abbott’s on a quick path to broadening his appeal.
Indeed, for all the conjecture about White House aspirations, Jillson said he doubts the governor ever plans to put his neck out for such a contest. Abbott is notoriously cautious and poll-driven, and as the CPAC survey suggests, even a purportedly friendly crowd isn’t clamoring for him to run.
“I don’t think Abbott’s ever been convinced a presidential run is something he needs to pursue,” Jillson said.
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