Greg Abbott
GA
Greg Abbott
RepublicanIncumbent
Running for Governor.
Background
Abbott has been governor since January 2015 and is seeking a fourth term. He previously served as attorney general, as a Texas Supreme Court justice and as a Harris County district judge. He won the March 2026 Republican primary with 81.8%.
- Current role
- Governor of Texas (since 2015)
- Occupation
- Attorney; Governor
- Education
- B.B.A., finance, University of Texas at Austin (1981); J.D., Vanderbilt University Law School (1984)
- Prior offices
- Judge, 129th District Court, Harris County; Justice, Supreme Court of Texas; Attorney General of Texas (2002-2015); Governor of Texas (2015-present)
- Hometown
- Born in Wichita Falls; raised in Longview and Duncanville
Positions
Property Taxes
What is the candidate's position on property tax levels and relief?
Proposes a constitutional amendment letting voters decide whether to end school district property taxes on homesteads, a 3% appraisal cap extended to all property, appraisals every five years, local spending caps, and two-thirds voter approval for local tax increases.
Education and School Choice
What is the candidate's position on public school funding, education savings accounts, and curriculum?
Supports the education savings account program (often called school vouchers); proposes Student Success Academies, limits on classroom screen time, a 70% classroom-spending requirement with district audits, and tougher penalties for educator misconduct.
Voting record
Signed 2025 legislation creating the education savings account program (often called school vouchers), providing families about $10,000 for private school tuition and expenses.
Border Security
What role should the state play in border security and immigration enforcement?
Lists border security as an accomplishment and proposes automatically denying bail to people in the country illegally who are charged with a felony.
Voting record
Launched Operation Lone Star in 2021, deploying the Texas National Guard and state resources to the border; the Tribune reports the program has cost about $11 billion.
Power Grid and Energy
What is the candidate's position on the ERCOT grid, reliability, and energy production?
Says data centers must pay their own way and provide their own power; proposes opening city-owned electric utilities such as Austin's and San Antonio's to retail competition.
Voting record
Signed 2021 legislation requiring power plant weatherization after the February 2021 winter storm; in August 2026 ordered a pause on new data center grid connections pending an audit.
Water
What is the candidate's approach to water supply and infrastructure?
Says data centers should supply and reuse their own water; no broader water supply plan located on the campaign site.
Abortion
What is the candidate's position on Texas abortion law?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Signed the Texas Heartbeat Act, banning most abortions after about six weeks, on May 19, 2021, and in September 2021 signed limits on mail-ordered abortion medication.
Firearms
What is the candidate's position on Texas firearms laws?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Signed permitless (constitutional) carry legislation in June 2021, effective September 2021.
Public Safety and Bail
What is the candidate's position on bail, policing, and criminal justice?
Proposes expanding the Repeat Offender Taskforce, a statewide prosecutor, making district attorneys impeachable, and denying bail for certain violent defendants; says the last session passed his bail package.
Health Care
What is the candidate's position on Medicaid, insurance coverage, and health costs in Texas?
Proposes a $25 monthly co-pay cap on inhalers and epinephrine and a lower-cost Essential Benefits Health Insurance Plan for employers.
Elections and Voting
What is the candidate's position on election administration, voting rules, and redistricting?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Called 2025 special sessions including mid-decade congressional redistricting and signed the new map into law on Aug. 29, 2025.
Cannabis and THC
What is the candidate's position on hemp-derived THC, medical cannabis, and marijuana laws?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Vetoed SB 3 (2025), which would have banned consumable THC products, saying he preferred regulation; on Sept. 10, 2025 ordered state agencies to set THC rules including a 21-and-over sales age.
Priorities for This Office
What does the candidate say they would prioritize in this specific office?
Campaign themes are affordability and property tax cuts, public safety and bail, education changes, data center limits and border security.
Transgender Policy
What is the candidate's position on Texas laws related to transgender people, including medical treatment for minors, school sports, facilities, and legal definitions of sex?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Signed SB 8 (Sept. 22, 2025), which limits restroom and locker room use in public buildings to the sex on a person's birth certificate, saying it "is just common sense"; signed HB 229 (June 20, 2025), which defines sex as biological sex in state law.
Religion and Public Schools
What is the candidate's position on religion in public schools, such as displaying the Ten Commandments, school prayer, and chaplains?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
Signed SB 10 (June 21, 2025), requiring a Ten Commandments display in every public school classroom, and SB 11, allowing schools to adopt a daily voluntary prayer and Bible or religious text reading period.
Religious Liberty and Faith Communities
What has the candidate said or done regarding religious freedom and specific faith communities in Texas, such as Christians, Jews, and Muslims?
No public statement found.
Searched Oct 20, 2026.
Voting record
In November 2025 designated CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist and transnational criminal organizations under state law, saying the groups seek to impose Sharia law; opened state investigations into the East Plano Islamic Center's planned development and asked the Texas Rangers to investigate.
Home Insurance and Housing Costs
What is the candidate's approach to home insurance rates and housing costs in Texas?
Proposes a $400 million roof fortification program to lower home insurance premiums, allowing home additions by right, pre-approved building plans and faster permitting, and barring cities from certain building mandates.
Voting record
In an Aug. 24, 2026 letter directed the Texas Department of Insurance to pursue home insurance cost reductions, including barring nonrenewals based on a home's age and creating a fraud task force.
Money
Finance figures are being checked against official FEC and Texas Ethics Commission filings and will appear here once verified.
Endorsements
No public endorsements found. Searched Oct 20, 2026.