HOUSTON — Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday vowed to eviscerate Democrats in November’s midterm elections during a speech at the Texas GOP convention that previewed his next legislative priorities and his message for the fall campaign: tying the opposition to “Bernie Sanders socialism.”
Speaking to thousands of delegates at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, Abbott suggested the party will close its primaries to only Republicans, a priority of GOP activists that would require primary voters to register with the party. The governor also renewed his call to ban local governments from sending lobbyists to Austin — known among critics as taxpayer-funded lobbying — and encouraged the Legislature to adopt his plans for regulating data centers, slashing property taxes and taking a hard line on immigration.
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Abbott’s remarks offered a fresh look at how he plans to confront Democrats in a midterm where President Donald Trump’s policies, and the state of the economy, is creating political headwinds for Republicans. The governor cast the minority party, and its nominee for U.S. Senate, Rep. James Talarico of Austin, as radical socialists who are trying to rebrand from their lenient approach to the U.S.-Mexico border during the Biden administration. The spike in illegal border crossings in part helped Trump and the Texas GOP make massive gains along the border with Latino voters.
The governor, who has nearly $100 million in his campaign coffers, did not once mention his own November opponent: Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin. He did, however, knock the top of the Democratic ticket for being from the capital city, which he called the “People’s Republic of Austin.”
“Unity is going to drive victory this November, and no one does a better job than you all” at turning out voters, Abbott said to uproars of cheers. “Together, we will demolish the Democrats. Together, we are going to win in November. Together, we are going to keep Texas, Texas.”
Abbott’s suggestion that the state will require voters to register with a party occurred two weeks after Secretary of State Jane Nelson — the state’s chief elections officer — announced she would step down in July.
The Republican Party of Texas had sued Nelson, an Abbott appointee, to close the state’s primaries, motivated by concerns that Democrats are infiltrating GOP contests to boost more moderate candidates. Abbott has not yet named a replacement secretary of state, but party activists are hoping Nelson’s successor will drop the agency’s legal opposition and allow the primaries to be closed via the courts.
Elsewhere in his speech, the governor, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth term, underscored a variety of urgent tasks he has identified for the Texas GOP, from its elected lawmakers to the party activists who are set to instruct them with a new slate of legislative priorities Saturday.
He professed Harris County will be red once again, as he plans to invest $25 million in that effort and campaign “block by block, door to door.”
Abbott also called for the Legislature to codify his executive order that froze new H-1B visa applications from state agencies and public universities. That new law should extend the freeze to “all state and local governments,” the governor said, adding, “Texas jobs should only go to Texans.”
Beyond clamping down on local government lobbying, Abbott also made a pitch for reining in city and county spending, touting his proposed property tax package that seeks to require two-thirds voter approval of property tax increases.
He also accused Democrats of supporting Sharia law and prompted thunderous applause when he called for completely outlawing it and giving the attorney general’s office more authority to tackle the issue.
“The contrast between what Republicans have passed and how Democrats have voted is shocking,” Abbott said. “It should be a five-alarm warning to anybody thinking about voting for Democrats.”
Some of his proposals received immediate praise from some of the GOP’s grassroots leaders, like Luke Macias, a longtime conservative political consultant who thanked the governor for “standing alongside the grassroots and leading” on the push to close the state’s primary elections.