How Abbott is His Own Worst Enemy

Governor Greg Abbott may be the top Republican in Texas, but his leadership of the party is undermined by his greatest opponent: Governor Greg Abbott.

Currently, the fight for one of the state’s senate seats is among the highest profile contests in nation. Sen. Ted Cruz infamously almost lost to State Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) in 2018, barely squeaking by on a win and suppression of the mail-in vote according to Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Now, Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) is nipping at Cruz’s heels. Though Cruz continues to lead, Allred has been within 2 percentage points on numerous occasions with the senator rarely breaking the 50 percent majority needed for a win.

Without Greg Abbott, Colin Allred probably wouldn’t be here at all. Allred’s district in Dallas-Fort Worth flipped from red to blue as part of the 2018 backlash against Republicans, especially Cruz and former President Donald Trump. Abbott’s unwavering support of Trumpism contributed to the blue wave in the state, a contribution hat has only grown in notoriety thanks to the loss of constitutionally protected reproductive choice championed by Trump, Cruz, and Abbott. It’s arguable that he has been responsible for more Democrats being elected in Texas than any other single person.

Supporting deeply unpopular policies (and a former president indicted on election fraud charges) is not the only way he is endangering his own party. Abbott has gone to bloody war with rural House Republicans over school vouchers. Backed by money from Christian nationalist billionaires like Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks, and Jeff Yass, Abbott swore vengeance on any Texas House Republicans that failed to support his voucher plan.

That vengeance was realized in the primaries. Enough rural Republicans lost their primary that Abbott now claims to have enough votes for vouchers. That is assuming those hand-picked candidates win their districts.

Which is not nearly as certain as Abbott might think. The problem with replacing actual elected officials with puppets and flunkies is that they often lack the skills, popularity, or integrity their districts want. It’s one thing to sway a comparatively small number of far right idealogues in a primary, and quite another for a carpetbagger to win over the hearts of voters that were perfectly happy with the representative protecting their local high school.

That’s on top of Abbott’s bitter fight with the Texas House speaker, Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). Phelan remains a popular leader with the state GOP, and defeated his Abbott-backed opponent. He clearly intends to serve in the role again. Phelan represents the last bastion of old-school Republican independence in the state, unburdened by the new money that has dominated the far-right wing.

By turning every intraparty disagreement into a total war, Abbott has lost the loyalty and trust of many Republicans. He is utterly dependent on a narrow, but well-funded, network of extremists that care less about competency than ideological purity. In doing so, he has whittled away the parts of the government that actually governs.