By this time four years ago, Democrat Wendy Davis had already made clear her plans to run for governor, and was aggressively raising money and courting support
.But today, it's crickets from the Democratic side, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports, with no Democrat even hinting at a possible run.
There may be two reasons for that, according to officials familiar with the situation.
One, Abbott had a $34 million warchest when the January financial reports were released, and when the mid year reports come out, that figure is expected to be up to $50 million.
$50 million, Rice University political analyst Mark Jones says, will scare away a lot of rivals.
"He has no clear rival, either in the Republican Party or Democratic Party, and one way to keep it that way is to raise copious amounts of money," Jones told News Radio 1200 WOAI.
Republican strategist Mark Mackowiak says one of the reason Abbott is raising so much money and campaigning so aggressively, is that he is concerned about facing 'non traditional' challenges, much like Donald Trump was a 'non traditional' candidate for President in 2016.
"Someone like Mark Cuban, who could self fund an entire campaign, would in fact be able to easily outspend Greg Abbott," he said.
But Abbott has another ace up his sleeve. He is easily the single most popular political figure in the state.
"Abbott has an 83% job approval rating among Republicans, and a 90% approval rating among Tea Party loyalists," said Jim Henson of the University of Texas Politics Project
. He points out that, in recent elections, the biggest challenge a sitting Republican has faced has been in a primary from fellow Republicans. In 2010, then Gov. Rick Perry turned aside a primary challenge from Kay Bailey Hutchison, and barely worked up a sweat in dispatching Democrat Bill White in November.
In fact, a recent poll done by Henson and the Texas Tribune showed that Abbott is the only statewide office holder which is not 'underwater' with all voters, Democrat and Republican. He has a positive job approval rating statewide, something Ted Cruz, Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton can't claim.