Texas Gov. Greg Abbott officially filed for re-election to a second term on Veterans Day, a race he begins with a massive campaign war chest, the highest popularity of any Texas elected official, and no credible Democratic opponent in sight, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
“When I launched my reelection campaign this summer I made a promise to elevate Texas to even greater heights,” Abbott said. “I promised to strengthen our education system, crack down on gangs and violent crime and grow our economy and create more jobs."
Abbott was accompanied by his brother a career Navy veteran, and pledged to implement a program called 'Front of the Line' to make sure Texas veterans are treated fairly and respectfully as they seek jobs and work to integrate into the growing Texas economy.
His plan prioritizes the hiring of veterans, assisting veterans to become business owners and obtain state contracts, and to make sure veterans health care is the best in the country.
Among his proposals would cut down on government regulation, to make sure that Texas law be amended to ensure that any military spouse or veteran’s spouse who held the same or equivalent position in the armed forces or a licensed position in another jurisdiction would be exempt from state and local licensing requirements. This would also extend license fee and registration waivers to military and veteran spouses at the local level.
Abbott's proposal also would double spending on legal services for Texas veterans.
Texas Democrats, despite their constant drum beating about 'turning Texas blue' and leveraging gains made in the state's big cities in 2016 to elect statewide officials, something the Democrats have been unable to do since 1994, the party's failure to mount a credible challenger in the top-of-the-ticket race is a major embarrassment.
Several prominent Democrats have decided to sidestep the race.
There are several reasons for the Democrats to be unwilling to mount a serious challenge to Abbott. The governor is also a master fundraiser, and has more than $50 million in his campaign account. Abbott is by far the most popular politician of any party in Texas, with a popularity level frequently exceeding 70%. And Democrats face a myriad of challenges nationwide and there is a feeling that dumping tens of millions of dollars into a long shot race for governor would starve funding from other races nationwide that the party has a legitimate chance of winning.
Against a prominent, well funded opponent, who was frequently referred to as a 'rock star,' Abbott defeated Wendy Davis by more than 20 percentage points to win the office in 2014.