Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) is looking to maintain his 12-year tenure with one tactic he said has proven to be very effective: not debating his opponent.
Gov. Abbott has received public criticism for not debating Democrat Gina Hinojosa (D-TX), despite her repeated calls to do so. Last week, Hinojosa showed up outside of his home with two podiums, inviting him to a public debate to which he did not attend.
But during a campaign event with local law enforcement last week, Gov. Abbott said a debate is not what the people of Texas want from him.
“They want to be able to see me, touch me, talk to me, hear from me, and there’s only one way you can do that, and that’s by going to communities,” Abbott said.
This approach, Abbott said, makes him a better governor candidate by “providing to those people in the local area what they want the most.”
But Hinojosa said a governor not willing to debate her does not deserve the spot.
"If Greg Abbott is not man enough to debate me, then he does not deserve to be the governor of Texas," Hinojosa said.
However, Abbott did debate his opponents in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
“My strategy, that’s proven very effective before,” Abbott said. “Is to spend all my time going to community after community after community to make sure I connect with as many voters as possible.”
presiOthers on the Republican ticket are also receiving backlash for not participating in a debate.
In his 11 years as attorney general, Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton (R-TX) has never had a debate. Democrat nominee James Talarico (D-TX) has called to debate Paxton multiple times, with even President Donald Trump saying during a rally last week that the two should face off before the midterm election.
“We’ve been looking on that for months with him and, of course, and we can never quite work out the details because he always wants something we can’t do,” Paxton said when asked about the pending debate.
