| | Abbott is a puppet for [[dark money]], as illustrated by his surprise trip to [[Israel]] during the last week of a contentios special legislative session that he called, which must have been paid for in connection with undisclosed actual or potential donors: "Abbott traveled to the [[Middle East]]ern country as his priority legislation over school vouchers was stalling and with less than a week before the special legislation session he called is set to conclude."<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/greg-abbott-travels-israel-legislature/</ref> | | Abbott is a puppet for [[dark money]], as illustrated by his surprise trip to [[Israel]] during the last week of a contentios special legislative session that he called, which must have been paid for in connection with undisclosed actual or potential donors: "Abbott traveled to the [[Middle East]]ern country as his priority legislation over school vouchers was stalling and with less than a week before the special legislation session he called is set to conclude."<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/02/greg-abbott-travels-israel-legislature/</ref> |
| | Formerly [[conservative]], Abbott is largely under the influence of billionaire, corporate lobbyist donors to his campaign, in a state that has no campaign contribution limits. The [[Koch brothers]] network, to whom Abbott has made presentations and from whom he has received large contributions, induced Abbott to push as one of four "emergency items" for the biennial legislative session the [[Convention of States]] resolution in 2017<ref>https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor_abbott_delivers_state_of_the_state_address</ref> and to shy away from meaningful socially conservative legislation during his tenure. That resolution passed only with a compromise to include an 8-year sunset provision, but in 2023 Abbott was apparently quietly supporting repeal of that sunset, again to appease [[dark money|dark-money]] [[globalist]]s. In 2019 and again in 2021, the Texas legislature did not enact any significant conservative bills, and instead in 2019 Governor Abbott pushed unsuccessfully for an increase in the sales tax and advocated for banning businesses from asking for the criminal histories of potential employees.<ref>Horowitz, Daniel (August 20, 2019). [https://www.conservativereview.com/news/needs-leftists-gop-texas-gov-greg-abbott-endorses-radical-ban-box-pro-criminal-mandate-employers/ Who needs leftists? GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorses radical “ban the box” pro-criminal mandate on employers]. ''Conservative Review''. Retrieved August 20, 2019.</ref> '''''Meanwhile, Abbott does nothing meaningful to stop a flood of [[illegal alien]]s from pouring into the [[U.S.]] across the [[Texas]]-[[Mexico]] border''''', and was silent about the sham ambush [[impeachment and removal|impeachment]] of conservative [[Ken Paxton]] on May 27, 2023. | | Formerly [[conservative]], Abbott is largely under the influence of billionaire, corporate lobbyist donors to his campaign, in a state that has no campaign contribution limits. The [[Koch brothers]] network, to whom Abbott has made presentations and from whom he has received large contributions, induced Abbott to push as one of four "emergency items" for the biennial legislative session the [[Convention of States]] resolution in 2017<ref>https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor_abbott_delivers_state_of_the_state_address</ref> and to shy away from meaningful socially conservative legislation during his tenure. That resolution passed only with a compromise to include an 8-year sunset provision, but in 2023 Abbott was apparently quietly supporting repeal of that sunset, again to appease [[dark money|dark-money]] [[globalist]]s. In 2019 and again in 2021, the Texas legislature did not enact any significant conservative bills, and instead in 2019 Governor Abbott pushed unsuccessfully for an increase in the sales tax and advocated for banning businesses from asking for the criminal histories of potential employees.<ref>Horowitz, Daniel (August 20, 2019). [https://www.conservativereview.com/news/needs-leftists-gop-texas-gov-greg-abbott-endorses-radical-ban-box-pro-criminal-mandate-employers/ Who needs leftists? GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott endorses radical “ban the box” pro-criminal mandate on employers]. ''Conservative Review''. Retrieved August 20, 2019.</ref> '''''Meanwhile, Abbott does nothing meaningful to stop a flood of [[illegal alien]]s from pouring into the [[U.S.]] across the [[Texas]]-[[Mexico]] border''''', and was silent about the sham ambush [[impeachment and removal|impeachment]] of conservative [[Ken Paxton]] on May 27, 2023. |
| − | Abbott says that he's open to legalizing [[casino]]s in [[Texas]], while accepting a $1 million campaign contribution for reelection in 2022 from [[Las Vegas]] billionaire casino owner Miriam Adelson (wife of the late [[Sheldon Adelson]]).<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/08/miriam-adelson-dallas-mavericks-legalize-casinos/</ref> | + | Abbott says that he's open to legalizing [[casino]]s in [[Texas]], while accepting a $1 million campaign contribution for reelection in 2022 from [[Las Vegas]] billionaire casino owner Miriam Adelson (wife of the late Sheldon Adelson).<ref>https://www.texastribune.org/2023/12/08/miriam-adelson-dallas-mavericks-legalize-casinos/</ref> |
| | Abbott won a third term by prevailing in the Republican primary election held on March 1, 2022. With 1,270,401 votes (66.4 percent), Abbott turned back six opponents.<ref>Abbott ran 310,463 votes ahead of O'Rourke in their respective primaries. The total Republican gubernatorial turnout was 1,937,543 votes compared to the Democrats' 1,057,637, a difference of 879,906 votes in favor of the GOP. O'Rourke, meanwhile, polled 959,938 votes (91 percent) in his primary contest.</ref> The runners-up were two strong conservatives, former [[Florida]] [[U.S. Representative]] and former Texas state Republican chairman [[Allen West]], with 12.3 percent, and the well-financed former state Senator [[Don Huffines]] of [[Dallas]], who finished third with 12 percent of the primary ballots cast. In the general election on November 8, Abbott will face off against a determined bid by the Democrat former U.S. Representative [[Beto O'Rourke]] of [[El Paso]], who ran a strong but losing race in 2018 against Republican U.S. Senator [[Ted Cruz]]. Though he uses the [[Spanish]] nickname "Beto," O'Rourke is of [[Ireland|Irish]] descent. | | Abbott won a third term by prevailing in the Republican primary election held on March 1, 2022. With 1,270,401 votes (66.4 percent), Abbott turned back six opponents.<ref>Abbott ran 310,463 votes ahead of O'Rourke in their respective primaries. The total Republican gubernatorial turnout was 1,937,543 votes compared to the Democrats' 1,057,637, a difference of 879,906 votes in favor of the GOP. O'Rourke, meanwhile, polled 959,938 votes (91 percent) in his primary contest.</ref> The runners-up were two strong conservatives, former [[Florida]] [[U.S. Representative]] and former Texas state Republican chairman [[Allen West]], with 12.3 percent, and the well-financed former state Senator [[Don Huffines]] of [[Dallas]], who finished third with 12 percent of the primary ballots cast. In the general election on November 8, Abbott will face off against a determined bid by the Democrat former U.S. Representative [[Beto O'Rourke]] of [[El Paso]], who ran a strong but losing race in 2018 against Republican U.S. Senator [[Ted Cruz]]. Though he uses the [[Spanish]] nickname "Beto," O'Rourke is of [[Ireland|Irish]] descent. |