Greg Abbott

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Greg Abbott (Republican Party) is the Governor of Texas. He assumed office on January 20, 2015. His current term ends on January 19, 2027.

Abbott (Republican Party) ran for re-election for Governor of Texas. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Abbott was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, in 1957. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree in finance and later earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University. Shortly after graduating law school, Abbott was paralyzed from the waist down when a tree fell on him while jogging.^[1]

Abbott worked in private practice as an attorney from 1984 to 1992. He then served as a judge on the 129th District Court in Houston from 1993 to 1995. In 1996, Governor George W. Bush (R) appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, where he served until 2001. Abbott first held elected office when he won election as the attorney general of Texas in 2002 by a margin of 15.6 percentage points. He won re-election in 2006 by 22.6 percentage points and in 2010 by 30.4.

As attorney general, Abbot argued on behalf of Texas before the Supreme Court of the United States in defense of a Ten Commandments statue on the grounds of the state's capitol.^[2] He also filed more than 30 lawsuits against the federal government during Barack Obama's (D) presidency, including challenges to an executive order related to deferred action, the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and EPA regulations.^[3]

Abbott was elected governor in 2014 after defeating Wendy Davis (D) 59.3%-38.9%. He was re-elected in 2018 after defeating Lupe Valdez (D) 55.8%-42.5%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Abbott used executive orders to prohibit local governments and state agencies from mandating vaccines or face masks.^[4] Central issues in his campaign for re-election in 2022 were his administration's response to a power grid crisis following a February 2021 winter storm and the May 2022 Uvalde school shooting.^[5] Abbott defeated Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke 54.8%-43.9% to win a third consecutive term as governor in 2022.

As governor, Abbott signed a six week abortion ban into law that allows for exceptions in the case of medical emergencies, as well as a package of new firearm laws including legislation that allows the legal carry of handguns without a license, and a bill that prevents state officials from assisting federal officials from enforcing federal firearm laws.^[6]^[7] He also signed a bill with $1.54 billion for construction of barriers along the southern border.^[8] In 2021, he launched Operation Lone Star, deploying the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety to the border.^[9]

In October and November 2023, Abbott sent lawmakers into emergency sessions to pass measures related to school choice. ^[10] After legislators did not pass a bill during either session, Abbott endorsed candidates in the 2024 Republican primary challenging Republican incumbents that had not supported school voucher legislation. Six of the eight Abbott-supported challengers defeated incumbents who had previously opposed vouchers.^[11]

Biography

Abbott was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, on November 13, 1957.^[12] He graduated with a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the Vanderbilt University. Abbott was paralyzed in 1984 and uses a wheelchair.^[13]

Abbott worked in private practice as an attorney at Butler and Binion LLP from 1984 to 1992. He served as a district court judge in Houston from 1993 to 1995 and justice on the Supreme Court of Texas from 1996 to 2001. He then held elected office, first as the attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015, an then as the governor of Texas, beginning in 2015.^[14]

Elections

2022

General election

General election for Governor of Texas

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Texas on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Greg Abbott (R)	54.8	4,437,099
	Beto O'Rourke (D)	43.9	3,553,656
	Mark Tippetts (L)	1.0	81,932
	Delilah Barrios (G)	0.4	28,584
	Jacqueline Abernathy (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	1,243
	Mark Goloby (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	394

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,102,908
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Reginald Jennings II (Independent)
Jorge Franco (Independent)
Jeremy Rios (Independent)
Ricardo Turullols-Bonilla (Independent)
Justin Cunneen (Independent)
Sean Sharp (Independent)
Demetra Wysinger (Independent)
Chioma Okoro (Independent)
Star Locke (Independent)
Raul Cortina (Independent)
Patrick Wynne (Reform Party)
Jal Dennis (Independent)
Deirdre Dickson-Gilbert (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Texas

Beto O'Rourke defeated Joy Diaz, Michael Cooper, Rich Wakeland, and Inocencio Barrientez in the Democratic primary for Governor of Texas on March 1, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Beto O'Rourke	91.4	983,182
	Joy Diaz	3.1	33,622
	Michael Cooper	3.0	32,673
	Rich Wakeland	1.2	13,237
	Inocencio Barrientez	1.2	12,887

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,075,601
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Texas

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Texas on March 1, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Greg Abbott	66.5	1,299,059
	Allen B. West	12.3	239,557
	Donald Huffines	12.0	234,138
	Chad Prather	3.8	74,173
	Rick Perry	3.1	61,424
	Kandy Kaye Horn	1.2	23,605
	Paul Belew	0.6	11,387
	Daniel Harrison	0.6	10,829

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,954,172
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Green convention

Green convention for Governor of Texas

Delilah Barrios advanced from the Green convention for Governor of Texas on April 9, 2022.

		Candidate
✔		Delilah Barrios (G)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
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Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Governor of Texas

Mark Tippetts defeated Fidel Castillo in the Libertarian convention for Governor of Texas on April 10, 2022.

		Candidate
		Fidel Castillo (L)
✔		Mark Tippetts (L)

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Andrew Jewell (L)
Daniel Behrman (L)

Campaign finance