Republican presidential candidates are making the rounds in key battleground states across the country, but someone you won’t see campaigning is Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas.
Many wondered if he would jump into the race for the presidency, but Abbott is preoccupied with matters of state. There seems to be another leader in a heavily Republican state that has been garnering national attention: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Both won re-election last November.
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Republican presidential candidates are making the rounds in key battleground states across the country, but not Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas
Instead, he has taken up state issues while being overshadowed by another leader in a heavily Republican state: Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
“We’ve seen both governors go back and forth on the kinds of policies they’ve pushed in their states,” Rebecca Deen, associate dean at the University of Texas at Arlington, told Spectrum News.
For the first time in decades, no Texan may be running in a presidential election cycle, but Republican strategists believe Abbott’s political future is far from over.
Through their respective legislative sessions, each governor apparently tried to one-up the other by appealing to their base, banning books, limiting diversity programs at universities, and sending migrants to other parts of the country. .
“We’ve seen both governors go back and forth on the kinds of policies they’ve pushed in their states,” Rebecca Deen, associate dean at the University of Texas at Arlington, told Spectrum News.
There was much speculation that both leaders would jump into the race for the 2024 presidential election, but only DeSantis officially announced it and emerged as former President Donald Trump’s primary challenger.
“Governor DeSantis has captured this path of people who embrace former President Trump’s policies, appeal to his voters, but maybe have a less troubled history than former President Trump,” Deen said. “But really, I think, there’s not a lot of opportunity for Governor Abbott to find room in this crowded field.”
Abbott has a different style and rhetoric and is staying busy with an extended legislative session aimed at fulfilling some remaining conservative priorities, such as property tax cuts and penalties for human trafficking.
Although the two state legislatures operate differently, DeSantis closed the deal in Tallahassee with less resistance.
“I do a fair amount of work in Tallahassee, and what I will tell you is that I think DeSantis’ approach in this legislative session was to announce a candidacy at the end of it,” political consultant Hans Klingler republican he told Spectrum News.
“Governor Abbott, I don’t think, came into this legislature necessarily with that as his primary function and form and goal,” he added.
For the first time in decades, no Texan may be running in a presidential election cycle, but Republican strategists believe Abbott’s political future is far from over.
“Abbott is going to stay focused on his legislative priorities right now and maybe deliver on them.” Klingler said. “If he’s able to make that a reality, his priorities a reality, it’s a lot better to jump from there than where he is right now.”
And even if a Texas lawmaker doesn’t run, the Republican path to the White House runs through the Lone Star State.
