“Allen West, who recently stepped down as the chair of the Texas Republican Party, announced Sunday he is running for governor of the state,” Politico reports.
“West’s candidacy puts him on a collision course against incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, a fellow Republican. West has frequently been critical of Abbott, even during his time as state party chair.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Texas finds 46% of voters think Gov. Greg Abbott (R) deserves to be reelected, while 48% say he does not deserve to be reelected.
With former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) not ruling out a possible challenge to Abbott in 2022, voters overall say they would not like to see him run for governor, 52% to 41%.
Another name gaining attention for a possible gubernatorial run is actor Matthew McConaughey, whose party affiliation is unclear. While 41% of voters say they would like to see him run, 47% say they would not like to see him run.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R) announced he would seek reelection, putting to rest speculation that he could challenge Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for the top elected position in the state, the Texas Tribune reports.
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Beto O’Rourke told People he is getting ready for yet another long drive across Texas as part of a voter turnout effort in upcoming elections: “One way or the other, I’m in for the distance for Texas.”
He added: “That might be as a candidate.”
Associated Press: “For months, O’Rourke has kept his options open. A top aide to the former Texas congressman and presidential candidate said O’Rouke has not ruled out challenging Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022 but has taken no formal steps toward a campaign, like calling donors or recruiting staff.”
“A comeback in Texas could be complicated by liberal positions he took while seeking the presidency, but likely no other Democrat would enter the governor’s race with the same ability to quickly raise the massive campaign funds needed to compete in the state.”
“Even as Greg Abbott and many fellow Republicans were still basking in what they called Texas’ ‘most conservative 48 hours’ in history, a former one-term state senator announced he would challenge the governor from the right in next year’s GOP primary,” the Austin American Statesman reports.
Dallas Morning News: “Former Texas state Sen. Don Huffines (R) is running for governor, and from the broadsides he launched against two-term Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) stewardship on Monday, it’s clear the Dallas businessman will try to attack the incumbent Republican from the right.”
Austin American-Statesman: “On whether he plans to run for governor in 2022, O’Rourke said he will assess his next move when he finishes teaching his courses at the University of Texas and Texas State University.”
Said O’Rourke: “I’m going to think about where I can play the most positive role for Texas, whether that’s running for office or supporting those who do run for office. I’ll think of any and all ways that I can be helpful.”
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) told the Dallas Morning News that he is not planning to challenge Greg Abbott for Texas governor.
Said O’Rourke: “I’ve got no plans to run, and I’m very focused on the things that I’m lucky enough to do right now — organizing, registering voters and teaching. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing now.”
Actor Matthew McConaughey told The Balanced Voice podcast that a long-rumored run for Texas governor is “a true consideration.”
“Beto O’Rourke is on the road again, criss-crossing Texas and broadcasting his stops in small towns live,” CNN reports.
“His efforts have been focused on the crises that have gripped the state: Widespread power outages brought on by the failure of the state’s electric grid during last month’s freezing temperatures, and the battle against the coronavirus pandemic — which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott effectively abandoned this week by dropping the state’s mask mandate and its business restrictions.”
“But O’Rourke’s public re-emergence — and with it, the return of his from-the-road livestreams on Facebook, with 35 videos in the last two weeks — has ignited hopes in his supporters and among prominent Democrats in the state that the former congressman will take on Abbott next year. Increasingly, Democrats say they see Abbott as politically wounded and believe the former congressman who reinvigorated a moribund state party with his 2018 Senate run could offer the best chance of winning the governor’s office in more than a quarter-century.”
“While Ted Cruz was getting clobbered for fleeing Texas amid its historic winter storm, the Democrat he defeated in 2018, Beto O’Rourke, was already deep into disaster relief mode — soliciting donations for storm victims, delivering pallets of water from his pickup truck and once again broadcasting his movements on Facebook Live,” Politico reports.
“It was part of an effort orchestrated by O’Rourke and his organization, Powered by People, in response to the crisis. It was also, to Texas Democrats, a sign that O’Rourke the politician is back.”
“Electronic communications made public show Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) office was a driving force in the state’s program to purge nearly 100,000 suspected non-U.S. citizens from Texas’ voter rolls,” the San Antonio Express News reports.
“The program was scrapped in April after the state settled lawsuits challenging it, and after Secretary of State officials publicly admitted they included flawed data showing tens of thousands of naturalized citizens were on the purge list.”
“As governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott doesn’t flash the White House ambitions of his predecessors or their big personalities. But in just five years he has quietly built his own distinction: Taking in more cash from donors than any governor in U.S. history,” the AP reports.
“Few others even come close. Since first running in 2013, Abbott has accepted more than $120 million in political contributions… He has been showered with big-donor money on a scale that is prohibited in most states and far beyond limits for members of Congress — more than 200 times receiving contributions of $100,000 or more.”
Internal memos obtained by the Texas Tribune finds that consultants for Wendy Davis (D) warned her campaign months ago that she “was headed for a humiliating defeat in the Texas governor’s race unless she adopted a more centrist message and put a stop to staggering internal dysfunction.”
From the January memo: “The campaign is in disarray and is in danger of being embarrassed. The level of dysfunction was understandable in July and August, when we had no infrastructure in place — but it doesn’t seem to be getting better.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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