Something Resembling A Texas Gubernatorial Race?

[Elderberry]

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog 7/24/2021

Does Texas have a competitive Gubernatorial race in 2022? No, not yet. But on the Republican side, we have something that resembles a competitive primary a lot more than we did at any point of the 2018 election cycle.

In 2018, incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott was running against someone named Barbara Krueger (of whom I have actually no memory whatsoever and who reports show raised literally no money), and gadfly Larry SECEDE Kilgore (yes, that’s how his name appeared on the ballot), whose funding raising totals equaled Krueger’s. Abbott walloped those two with 90.4% of the primary vote in 2018.

That’s not going to happen in 2022.

Abbott already has two much higher profile challengers in former state senator Don Huffines and former Florida congressman and former Texas GOP head Allen West, both of whom are campaigning against Abbott from the right. (Humorist Chad Prather is also running in the Republic primary, but I see no signs his is a serious campaign.)

Abbott had a huge advantage in money-on-hand in the 2018 race, and will likely have the same this time around, with over $55 million on hand this time around. However, Huffines already has over $7 million as well. That’s enough to build out statewide campaigning and fundraising infrastructure. Huffines also pulled in over $4 million in fundraising, indicating there are some deep pocketed contributors out there who are unhappy enough with Abbott to put their money where their mouth is. (West declared he was running July 4, which means he won’t have to file his campaign fundraising reports until the end of the year. But as someone who’s name has been showing up in fundraising solicitation campaigns for at least a decade (and I see he was featured on one of those National Review cruises back in 2013), I have to imagine that he still has something of a national fundraising network to draw on.)

More: https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=48752

[IsailedawayfromFR]

I could vote for any of the three, but do not prefer Abbott at this point as he has failed conservatism in this state with his absence at the border until recently, his insane lockdown policies which seriously damaged out economy and his political patronage positions in the PUC which helped cause the disaster this past winter.

Like his predecessor Perry, he has drifted away as he concentrates not on his state but on national ambitions.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

One more reason to shy away from Abbott as he will not allow citizens to vote.  He has determined that his national ambitions trump his duty to his state.

Three of Governor Abbott’s Major Challengers Have Publicly Endorsed a TEXIT Vote
Although Governor Abbott has often used the global economic power of Texas as an applause line in his speeches, he has worked behind the scenes to prevent a TEXIT referendum. His continued silence and his opposition to the issue shows that he is not in favor of letting the people’s voices be heard on the matter. Repeated correspondence with him and his staff from thousands of TEXIT supporters over the past few years has gone unanswered. But now he may be forced to take a public stance on TEXIT thanks to his 2022 election challengers.

With so many TEXIT supporters in the state, and the pressure put on by the Texas Nationalist movement, his silence could be the end of his gubernatorial reign. And there is no doubt that his office is already being challenged by qualified candidates. So far, these candidates include Chad Prather, Don Huffines, and Allen West.

https://tnm.me/news/political/three-of-governor-abbotts-major-challengers-have-publicly-endorsed-a-texit-vote/?goal=0_244a299551-6a302faa15-321261778&mc_cid=6a302faa15&mc_eid=774953ca16

[Bigun]