Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ramping up his campaign for reelection by touting his conservative credentials, warning against a socialist takeover and raising money in anticipation of a bruising 2022 battle with former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
Abbott crystalized his strategy in a Tuesday telethon-styled fundraiser that masqueraded as a town hall meeting.
His message as he pleaded for campaign cash: The socialists are coming.
“Whichever socialist they put up, we’re going to defeat,” Abbott said. “We’re fighting against more than just people on the other side, we’re fighting an ideology, an ideology and is trying to ruin Texas and ruin the United States of America. And it’s a fight that I can’t wage alone.”
Though he’s taken some hits over the past year over the deadly winter storm and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Abbott is in a strong position for reelection, analysts say.
But the governor, a former attorney general and Supreme Court justice, has routinely made moves to shore up his standing with conservative activists, while hoping to continue to have the resources to fend off a general election challenge.
The 2022 reelection campaign is shaping up to be different from any campaign Abbott has staged. He faces opposition in the GOP primary from former state Sen. Donald Huffines of Dallas. And former Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West is expected to announce his campaign against Abbott when he addresses next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Dallas.
The idea among like-minded, anti-Abbott activists appears to be forcing the governor into a runoff and hope his popularity declines.
Huffines says he’s the true conservative in the race and that Abbott stole from him the idea of building a wall along the state’s border with Mexico.
“Abbott has had six years to secure our open border and only now is expressing an interest in taking action because he is facing a serious primary challenger—making his new-found stance on border security politically convenient,” Huffines said in a statement. “Texan’s are not ignorant. They know if Abbott wanted to secure the border he would have done so a long time ago.”
Banking on O’Rourke
Democrats are banking that O’Rourke, who just completed a barnstorming tour through Texas to promote voting rights, opts to challenge Abbott in the general election. O’Rourke, who lost a close 2018 race against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz and staged a failed 2020 presidential bid, is considering becoming his party’s standard bearer against Abbott.
Meanwhile, Texans are waiting to see if Academy-Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey runs for governor. The potential populist figure has not chosen a party affiliation.
“Abbott, no matter what’s going on, is always raising money,” said Democratic Party strategist Matt Angle. “He knows that every time he mentions Beto O’Rourke’s name he gets Republican Trumpers reaching for their wallets.”
Angle said contrary to the Republican narrative, Abbott is vulnerable. He points to the failure of Texas’ electric grid during the February winter storm as evidence. It resulted in the deaths of …and power outages across the state. Angle added that Abbott’s outreach to Trump voters doesn’t help his standing with moderates.
“He’s been exposed and folks are seeing through his veneer of competency and veneer of moderation,” Angle said.
The governor this week didn’t mention his primary race against Huffines, seemingly confident in his position with the GOP activists.
But he did warn Republicans against an O’Rourke campaign, telling supporters that he didn’t want a repeat of 2018, when O’Rourke came within 2.6 percentage points of beating Cruz.
“You need to also understand why it is that someone as socialistic as Beto O’Rourke got within two percentage points of beating Ted Cruz,” Abbott said. “The way he did it. He raised $80 million.”
Abbott said O’Rourke could raise even more for a Texas government race, since Texas elections for governor don’t have campaign limits.
“With no campaign limits, like what we have in Texas, he can easily raise more than $100 million in a campaign against me,” Abbott said.
“We can’t let that happen again. There’s no room or latitude to get within two percentage points of allowing a socialist to take over the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
Politics between legislative sessions
The Texas Legislative session ended on Memorial Day, and since then Abbott has been busy.
He vetoed a part of the state’s budget that funds the legislative branch of government and then called lawmakers back next month for a 30-day special session. There he’s expected to ask the Legislature consider a controversial “election security” proposal, as well as bail reform, more legislation to curb critical race theory being taught in schools and a law to protect the First Amendment rights on social media platforms for folks like former President Donald Trump, who was kicked off of Facebook, Twitter other social media platforms.
Since the session ended, Abbott has also vowed to build wall along the state’s southern border with Mexico. Next week he’ll meet Trump, the originator of border wall politics, during what will be a widely publicized event along the border.
During his telephone call with what organizers said was tens of thousands of supporters, Abbott listed his accomplishments. They included the Legislature’s passage of a bill that outlaws abortion at the sixth week of pregnancy, legislation to punish cities that cut police funding, legislation banning the teaching of critical race theory and other measures that support what Abbott calls “the rule of law.”
Abbott has also stepped up his fundraising. On the call an energetic woman named Samantha broke into the question and answer portion of the program with fundraising appeals.
This week Abbott got help from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who sent out a fundraiser email for the governor. Trump endorsed Abbott earlier this month.
The governor, per tradition, is also expected to travel the state for ceremonial bill signings.
Using O’Rourke as fundraising tool
At one point on the telephone meeting, former Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Nate Crain and his wife pledged to match contributions made during the telephone call up to $35,000.
“We know that Beto O’Rourke is up to no good,” Crain said. “He’s traveling around the state and setting himself up to raise unlimited funds for a gubernatorial bid.”
Three quarters through the program they were only about halfway to total amount Crain agreed to match.
Abbott’s last campaign disclosure report shows that he’s got $38 million in the bank. That’s a stout number that probably has been reduced with the addition of high-level campaign staffers. The governor couldn’t raise money during the legislative session, so he’s trying to fill his campaign coffers in anticipation of a race against O’Rourke, or another Democrat.
“There’s no room or latitude to get within two percentage points of allowing a socialist to take over the state of Texas,” Abbott said of a potential race against O’Rourke.
Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said it’s not surprising that Abbott is using O’Rourke as a fundraising tool.
“Using Beto is a good way to raise money,” Jones said. “One of the things Abbott has learned that his campaign war chest is not just good for his own campaign, but it makes him a more influential player in Republican politics, because he has the resources to help other candidates and conservative causes.”
Jones said that 2022 is just part of Abbott’s goals. He says the governor is hoping for a solid reelection win in 2022, so he can be considered a presidential contender in 2024, especially if Trump opts against another run for the White House.
Right now Abbott is not in the conversation, as potential candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have become a darling among Trump supporters.
But whipping Democrats in 2022 and making good on building a border wall could put Abbott in the 2024 mix, as a presidential or vice presidential nominee.
“He’s partially thinking about 2024 as well,” Jones said of Abbott. “Next year will set him up—or not set him up—as a viable candidate in 2024.”
