A Race Full of Records: Abbott's Fourth-Term Bid, $122 Million Raised, and 19 Million Registered Texas Voters
The Center Square's Thursday accounting of the Texas governor's race: no governor has ever served four terms, Abbott has raised a state-record $122 million to Gina Hinojosa's $39 million, and a record 19 million Texans are registered — with Abbott leading by only a few points in most polls.
AUSTIN — The race for Texas governor is setting records before a single Election Day ballot is cast, The Center Square reported Thursday. Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott is running for a fourth term; if he wins and serves the full term, he would become the longest-serving governor in Texas history. No other Texas governor has served four terms — the current longevity mark belongs to former Gov. Rick Perry, who served just over 14 years — and Texas has no term limits for governor.
The money is a record, too. Abbott has raised $122 million, the most campaign money in state history, according to the latest campaign finance reports cited in the story; Democrat Gina Hinojosa has raised $39 million. If Hinojosa wins, she would be the first Hispanic woman and the third woman elected governor in state history; the last time Texans elected both a Democrat and a woman as governor was 1990, when Ann Richards won. The first woman elected governor was Miriam (Ma) Ferguson in 1924.
The electorate is also a record: more than 19 million Texans are registered to vote, and more than 5.7 million have already voted early, according to Secretary of State records cited in the report, with early voting running through Friday, October 30. What is not a runaway is the margin: in previous elections Abbott won by large margins, but this year most polling shows him leading by only a few points — in most polls, statistically tied.
