Texas Gov. Greg Abbott during a Sunday a launch party in Houston announced plans to run for a fourth term, potentially setting him up to become the longest-serving governor in the state’s history.
At the campaign event, the Republican incumbent couched his candidacy as way to maintain Texas as a “bastion of common sense in a country reeling from far-left, progressive insanity.”
“Texas is not just another state — it’s our home. Our heritage,” Abbott said in his speech. “As Texans, we will defend this state with every fiber of our being. We will protect what we built, finish what we started and lead Texas into its glorious future.”
At the rally, Abbott touted what he considers his accomplishments during his 10 years in office, including increasing affordability as well as investing in education and border security.
However, the Texas Tribune reports that the Lone Star State is in a housing-affordability crisis that’s made home ownership more distant than ever for many renters. Furthermore, the state needs about 320,000 homes more than it has to remedy the problem, according to housing policy organization Up For Growth.
In 2023, even then-Texas Comptroller Glen Hagar, an Abbott ally, penned a warning that the housing shortage was “Texas’ looming economic threat.”
When it comes to investing in education, Abbott is taking a victory lap for the $8.5 billion school-funding plan he signed into law in June — the state’s most-sizable such investment in recent memory.
But the boost in part stems from Abbott’s own political maneuvering to hold public school funding hostage. Two years ago, the governor said he’d refuse to sign any school funding bill unless lawmakers passed his $1 billion voucher program, the Tribune reports.
Abbott critics, including Texas Rep. James Talarico, now a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, argue his much-championed school voucher program guts public schools, especially those in rural areas, and funnels state funds to private institutions.
“Voucher advocates claim falsely that funds spent on vouchers won’t take any money from public schools because the two programs will be funded from different revenue streams,” the Texas State Teachers Association said. “But the truth is that the Legislature, when all is said and done, has only one pot of money to draw from, and that is the state budget. Our underfunded public schools need all the tax dollars that lawmakers spend on K-12 education. Public, not private, schools are state leaders’ responsibility under the state constitution, and our leaders are failing that responsibility.”
Further, Abbott indicated during his campaign launch that he’s not done slashing sources of public school funding. In his speech, the governor took aim at local government taxes and said voters should be allowed to vote on abolishing school property taxes.
“Local governments are hiking your property taxes incessantly,” Abbott said. “It’s time to drive a stake through the heart of local property tax hikes for good.”
Rick Perry is the longest-serving governor in the history of Texas, having put in 14 years in the position from 2000 until his 2014 retirement. If Abbott is re-elected and serves out the remainder of his fourth term, he’ll have surpassed Perry’s record on January 21, 2031.
So far, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who represents the Austin area, and Andrew White, an entrepreneur and son of late Democratic Texas Gov. Mark White, have joined the Democratic primary to run against Abbott.
Recent polling from the Texas Politics Project shows Abbott’s job approval at 39%, the lowest since he took office. However, the governor is beginning his reelection campaign with an astounding $90 million in his war chest. In comparison, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who’s locked in a tough election battle this cycle, reports having $6 million on hand.
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