Could Governor Abbott Lose to Beto O’Rourke? I think it is possible.
It is hard to see someone who said “hell yes we will take your AR15’s” as a serious candidate for governor in such a conservative state as Texas. But Governor Greg Abbott better not take Texas voters for granted or he may be in the same situation that Senator Cruz was when Beto ran against him in 2018. Here are a few reasons that Governor Abbott needs to be careful.
First, Governor Abbott is not as popular as he has been in the past. He made the liberals mad when he did not lock everything down for Covid and he made the conservatives mad because he locked down too much. Although he could never make them all happy, he tried to play a middle ground and it has hurt his popularity numbers by quite a bit.
Second, Beto O’Rourke is a hard-working politician. When Beto ran for President, it was hard to see because the United States is so much larger than Texas. When Beto ran against Cruz for the US Senate, he went all over the state and out worked Senator Ted Cruz. He had centrist republicans all over the state with Beto signs in their yard. He is also very good at showing how “Texas” he is. With a voter base that has a short memory, they could forgive or even forget that he is going to take their guns when they see him at What-a-Burger, drinking a Dr. Pepper, and screaming “remember the Alamo.”
Last, he is going to have money. According to the AP, Beto O'Rourke brought in two million dollars in his first day running for governor. He had over 80 million dollars on hand when he ran against Ted Cruz. Governor Abbott is sitting on 55 million and I am sure he will earn more, but Beto is going to have the money to challenge Governor Abbott in a way that Democrats have not been able to since the 80's.
I do not think that this is the same Beto O'Rourke that did so well against Senator Ted Cruz. He took a hard left turn when he ran for president that he cannot take back. I also think that Governor Abbott will win, but he must take Beto seriously and campaign hard. He cannot take the Texas voters for granted in this election.