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Guy Benson: Joining us now is the governor of the great state of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott. Governor, welcome back to the show.
Gov. Greg Abbott: Great to be back with you guys. Thanks.
Guy Benson: All right, so I want to talk about your race and the situation generally in Texas, where obviously we’ve seen a lot of the coverage and the prognosticators and the polling suggesting that not only is the Senate race in Texas a total coin flip, your reelection prospects are also a bit dicey because of this political environment in your state and nationally. Is that true? How competitive are things right now in Texas? What is your message to Texans with five days left?
Gov. Greg Abbott: For one, listen, the main way we can clear all this up is to make sure that Republicans go vote. There are more Republicans in Texas than there are Democrats. And in early voting, Democrats have shown up more than Republicans. We have two more days for early voting today and tomorrow and then election day. And what we need is for Republicans to make sure they do their part and go vote if Republicans turn out and vote. Uh… These are going to be races that are won, but let me tell you something else that’s kind of strange about my race and that does not get as much attention. You and people across the country know how radically crazy this Talarico guy is who’s running for the United States Senate. What they don’t know is that my opponent actually is to the far radical progressive left of Talarico. My opponent is the number one farthest leftist Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives. And she has a voting record to prove it. And when Texans hear about and learn about the crazy votes that my opponent has taken, they realize there’s only one person to support, and that’s Greg Abbott for re-election.
Guy Benson: Yeah, I mean, look, the Republican nominee for Senate has issues. It’s very obvious. And we’ve talked about that it is what it is. His opponent, as you mentioned, James Tallarico is way out there, especially for Texas sort of like wacky left wing stuff. Every woke poem he was reciting by heart, all the voting record. I mean this is someone who is way out of step with Texans in terms of their values and, and the political agenda that most Texans want to see. But what I just heard you say is that your opponent in the governor race, and you’re a popular governor, but you know, sometimes environments are tough. You know, winds are blowing in a certain direction. You’ve got to remind people, hey, here’s why I’ve built this popularity. This is why Texas is what it is. It’s not by accident, it’s our policies. It’s our leadership. You’re saying this Democrat challenging you, Gina Hinojosa, is a stride or two to the left, even of James Tallarico. Give us some examples, what would you say to substantiate that assertion?
Gov. Greg Abbott: She voted in favor of an income tax in the state of Texas and explained that an income tax should be the third leg of the taxing stool to fund government. That’s crazy in Texas. And I made sure that it would never happen, so we passed a constitutional amendment to ban an income tax. She voted against that constitutional amendment. She voted many times in favor of increasing property taxes, whereas I’ve been working to cut property taxes. She voted for an inheritance tax in the state of Texas to tax the kids and grandkids of our seniors in the State of Texas, and we just can’t let that happen. So that’s one on the taxing side, and obviously she wants to spend a whole lot more money. But some other things like this. The border in Texas is the largest border in America, and we’ve seen what can happen under Joe Biden and his open border policies. Gina Hinojosa, my opponent, supported Joe Biden’s open border policy. I signed a law that bans sanctuary cities. She voted against that law, and so she’s just crazy radical on the border situation. If ever we have another president like Joe Biden, we would not have a governor like Greg Abbott to secure the border unless I’m reelected. Then she came out in favor of things like defund the police. Uh… Radical ideas where she’s even voted in favor of Muslim and Sharia compounds in the state of Texas, whereas I signed a law designating the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR as a foreign terrorist organization. She was against that. So here’s one that should be easy for everybody. Putting aside the fact that she voted for boys in girls’ sports and the leftist trans agenda that you see Gavin Newsom support, there’s a fundamental issue that I know Republicans, Democrats, and independents all agree upon. And that is in Texas, only United States citizens should vote in our elections. We passed a law to that effect. My opponent was against it. Who could be against that? It’s just crazy. And so this really is a race between common sense versus crazy. And Ben, I know that when we get to the end, common sense is going to win.
Guy Benson: So she’s a sanctuary politician, and it’s just, think about the consequences. Think about the fallout. If the Democrats regain control of the federal government at some point here, and then Texas, with that giant border, doesn’t have a Greg Abbott as governor, but has a sanctuary Democrat as governor and the implications that would have all across the country. It was horrific enough. When it was just the Biden administration, when it was just the Biden administration, because at least they had the people running Texas fighting them and trying to secure the border and taking this seriously. If you have open borders on open borders, running the show in Texas, I mean, that is a catastrophe in waiting. Governor, on the taxes point, because I’ve seen that your opponent, the Democrats, are all in a huff trying to say that she’s never voted to raise taxes and, you know, you’re lying about her taxation record. Then I see your supporters and your team putting out example after example of these votes that she’s taken. Like what is the point of her denials when her voting record is crystal clear?
Gov. Greg Abbott: So when we made public her voting record, and as you point out, when we say that she voted in favor of an income tax, and when she voted against, I’m saying in favor, let me clear it back, let’s go back. When she voted in favor of income tax and when voted to raise property taxes, we put out the exact bills that she voted on. Right. It decimated her in the polls and so she felt the pain from it and she knew that truth was no pathway out. So she had to come out and lie about her record and then there was a CBS interviewer who caught her in her lies. And she went even further downhill after that. And so it’s just a big problem for her and it’s one of the many weights weighing her down and it goes back to what I was saying earlier, and that is the more the Texans learn about who she is or what her voting record is, the more they’re coming to side with me because they do not want Texas to have open borders and lawlessness and high taxes. They want the prosperity where Texas is number one in America for the most new jobs. We have the strongest economy in the entire country. Paychecks are higher, the poverty rate is at an all-time low, and crime is down across the state. So things are going excellent in the state of Texas. Just need to remind Texans how great things are going and what a disaster it would be under Gina Hinojosa.
Guy Benson: As it is always important to underscore, the success of places like Texas and Florida and Tennessee, you can go down the list of a lot of these big powerful red states. This is not just some sort of happy coincidence like, oh wow, somehow prices are lower in these places and the economy is booming and things are churning away and job opportunities are all over the place. And wow, they’re achieving educational outcomes at a far lower per pupil cost than a lot of these blue places, which are getting hollowed out and people are leaving and the tax burden is high and gas costs more. Like those distinctions are a direct result, positive and negative, of policy, policy and leadership. And to take what Texas is doing, cooking with gas, being this economic engine for the country, and to endanger that by putting the people with destructive policies in charge with, with some sense of like, “Oh, we’re unhappy with the overall national picture, what could go wrong?” A lot could go wrong. And so that’s like, that’s the negative side of it, the positive side. And you touched on some of that there, Governor, there is a record that I think, you know, you’re running for reelection on that you’re very proud of. Remind people in Texas and, frankly, all across the country what you all have built in Texas and why that is worth protecting.
Gov. Greg Abbott: Listen, Texas has built the strongest economy, and all you got to do is contrast Texas with California, New York, and Illinois, the far leftist states that Gina would be replicating in Texas if she were to be elected. If you want prosperity, if you want bigger paychecks, if you want to have the ability to get your kids educated in excellent schools across our state, everything that you want, public safety–listen, you can’t exist without public safety. Look at the scenes that you see on news every single night about the chaos in the streets of LA or Chicago or New York, wherever the case may be. We don’t tolerate things like that in Texas because we have a governor who supports law enforcement. All that could be lost. But listen, you used a phrase in which you were saying just moments ago that is meaningful in this race. You talked about it not being a happy coincidence about all the greatness going on in Texas. One of the challenges that we’ve had is the fact that Republicans have gone undefeated in Texas for 30 years in a row. So a lot of voters have kind of gotten accustomed to the fact that, just as often as the sun rises tomorrow, Republicans are gonna win the next election. And the reality, that’s not always gonna be the case. And so this is one of those tests where people need to realize this really is a challenge. Republicans will not always win unless we get our voters to the polls. And that’s exactly why we got to do one thing from now all the way through Election Day, and that is to get Republicans to the polls. If they go vote, this is going to be another landslide victory in the state of Texas for Republicans.
Guy Benson: Yeah, if you look at 2024, President Trump carried your state, if I recall correctly, by 13 or 14 points, it was a blowout. And there was this sense of like, look, Texas turning blue is a total fantasy. Look at that margin for Trump. This is fine for the foreseeable future. Maybe, maybe not, right? As you look at some of these polls in your race, you know, mid single digits, maybe you have the lead, Senate race shows Tallarico maybe slightly ahead, maybe not, neck and neck, coin flip. Things can change in politics, especially if the people who turn out consistently for the right decide not to, for whatever reason this time around, and you’re laying out some of the stakes here. You’ve also got President Trump, the aforementioned president, he’s come down multiple times. He was just there this week, you know, for these rallies down in Texas. Tell us about that strategy, that energy with the president, and on the ground whether or not you think that’s moving the needle at all.
Gov. Greg Abbott: It does help. Listen, every time he comes into the state, uh, he ends up all of the Trump supporters in the state. Uh, he was here in Lubbock and Corpus Christi, uh. And it really got Republicans and especially his supporters, uh, very supportive. Uh, J.D. Vance is in Texas today with a huge crowd getting people excited in a conservative county just to the west of Fort Worth. And so, uh, whether it be President Trump or J.D. Vance or whatever the case may be, everybody is all in to make sure that we do everything possible to turn out voters. And you know, especially so it’s like J.D. Vance is in Weatherford, Texas today–we call that more of a rural part of the state. Now that Trump was in Lubbock, which is a decent-sized community, but still considered in the general area rural parts of the state. Texas Republicans have always won the rural regions by, you know, 20, 30, 40, 50 percentage points. And we got to make sure that we replicate that again. If people living in rural Texas know this, and that is: the people who are running for the U.S. Senate and for the governor’s office, they are state representatives in liberal leftist Austin, Texas. They do not have the interest of rural Texans. They don’t have the values of rural Texans. They don’t have a clue even where rural Texas is. And Gina and Tallarico, they would destroy the values of rural Texans. We cannot let that happen. The only way we can stop that from happening is for rural Texans to go vote.
Guy Benson: So you need those rurals to show up big time and pad those numbers. And then you also want to perform fairly well, of course, in the burbs, right? Because, you know, you want to cut down on their margins in the cities and you want to perform as well as possible in the suburbs. I guess last question on that point, what’s your message to typical right-leaning, usually Republican suburban voters who just aren’t really sure this year for a number of reasons? And they’re kind of reticent. They’re maybe a little hesitant. What’s the closing message to them?
Gov. Greg Abbott: Re-elect me and I’ll cut the cost of living by $4,000 per family, including cutting your taxes, whereas my opponent will raise your taxes like she voted to in the past. Re-elect me and know that crime has gone down under my leadership, whereas my opponent stands for defunding the police and for lawlessness in our communities where people who are arrested for violent crimes would be released from jail. Re-elect me and I will keep our border secure. If our opponent wins, it’ll be open border season and illegal immigrants running free across the entire state of Texas. And re-elect me, and I will stay true to the values of those in our suburbs, those in rural regions, and not allow boys in girls’ sports like what my opponent voted for. This is a race between common sense versus crazy. We’re going to make sure that common sense once again prevails at the ballot box.
Guy Benson: The governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, here on The Guy Benson Show. He’s on the ballot top of the ticket in the great state of Texas on Tuesday. Huge race there, huge race in the Senate and all the way down as well. As it’s close, take nothing for granted. That would be a huge mistake in Texas and all across the country–the same message reverberates. Governor Abbott, thanks for your time.
Gov. Greg Abbott: Thank you so much.
