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2026 Election: Race for Texas governor
The first week of early voting is wrapping up. In the governor's race, the latest Emerson Poll still has Gov. Abbott in the lead. But some political observers said there's a familiar echo from the past on the campaign trail, and history could be on the verge of repeating itself.
TEXAS - The first week of early voting has wrapped up.
In the governor's race, the latest Emerson Poll still has Gov. Abbott in the lead. But some political observers say there's a familiar echo from the past on the campaign trail, and history could be on the verge of repeating itself.
The backstory:
Thirty-six years ago, Ann Richards became the second woman to become governor of Texas, and the last democrat to hold that office. Richards ran a popular wave to the governor's mansion in 1990 speaking out against political corruption and political cronyism.
Chuck McDonald, a former staff member for Richards, said their strategy then is somewhat similar to what Gina Hinojosa is trying to do now.
"I think the secret sauce for Gina Hinojosa is gonna be what turned out to be the same for us in 1990, and that's rural voters. And I'm not talking about, you know, she's going to win rural voters, but if she can cut, there's West Texas counties that vote 90% Republican. If she can get that to 78%, she's making money," said McDonald.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Close race for U.S. Senate in Texas
The new and conflicting polling numbers come as candidates are about to close out the first week of early voting.
On the Battleground Texas show, Greg Groogan noted that many political analysts are anticipating the governor ultimately gets about 98 percent of the Republican vote and just enough conservative-leaning independents to hold the three-point lead reported in RealClearPolitics' average.
"Let's face it, it took a perfect storm for ‘the Lady to beat Clady’ back in 1990, including massive unforced errors by the Republican. Frankly, it's taken a perfect storm of Abbott flops, Trump-induced headwinds, and general economic angst to get Gina into striking distance," said Groogan.
There is the possibility that the urban Blue storm of early voters elevates to Blue mega-tsunami status. If not, Steven Dial wondered what it would take to break the Texas GOP win streak.
"My question is, if on election night, everything goes for the Republicans in Texas, the question is, will it be 30 more years? And that's not being an overreaction because if they don't have the magic sauce for this storm. When will they have it," asked Dial.
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Voter discontent over the ballot choices hasn't slowed early voter turn out. Several third-party candidates are still hoping to make a statement that goes beyond being a spoiler. FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski spoke with Libertarian Pat Dixon
The other side:
Governor Abbott is not backing off. In an interview with Dial, he defended his decision not to debate Hinojosa. Abbott said he would rather spend his time meeting voters and not on a debate stage.
"Letting them get to see a Governor for the very first time and there is a large state to cover," said Abbott.
Governor Abbott recently dropped several new ads against Hinojosa, including some in Spanish. Her response includes an ad that looks like a wedding announcement for Abbott and data center developers.
Hinojosa was in Denton Friday. She has stops this weekend in Dallas, Austin, College Station and Weslaco.
The Source: Information from political polls, Chuck McDonald, a former staff member for Ann Richards, Battleground Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, previous coverage and reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski