Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has been re-elected for a third term in office, beating out Democrat Beto O’Rourke, NBC News projects.
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Donald Trump endorsed Abbott last year, although it’s unclear whether he ever needed the boost, given his consistent lead in the polls. His notable achievements in recent years have included loosening gun laws, including signing a permitless carry bill — which critics especially condemned after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed by a gunman who lawfully purchased assault-style rifles.
In 2021, Abbott signed a bill banning trans-student athletes from school teams that align with their gender identities and helped shepherd in classifying providing gender-affirming care for minors as “child abuse” under state law. He signed a six-week abortion ban before the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and criminalized helping a person receive abortion care. During the pandemic, Abbot focused on protecting the rights of the unvaccinated and shielding businesses that reopened from being sued. In August it was reported that $12 million had been spent on a much-publicized campaign busing migrants from Texas to “sanctuary” cities like Washington, D.C.
Such moves have inspired anti-Abbott political groups like Mothers Against Greg Abbott and Coulda Been Worse LLC (a name that mocks his news conference response to the Uvalde shooting). But his hard-line politics did not inspire enough votes to oust Abbott in favor of O’Rourke, whose own campaign strategies to many amounted to a missed opportunity to galvanize liberal voting power enough to nudge the perennially red state toward the left.
Clarissa Pharr is the senior opinion editor for MS NOW.