( Spanish) — The state of Texas will hold elections for governor next Tuesday, November 8, the same day that the entire United States will vote for legislators for Congress in the framework of the midterm elections, the first great electoral test of President Joe Biden.
The current governor of Texas, Republican Greg Abbott, will seek reelection for a third term after prevail within your partyand will face Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke, who will seek to dethrone him after having also passed the selection process in their community.
Although eyes are focused on these two candidates, there are two other options in these elections: Delilah Barrios, from the Green Party, and Mark Tippetts, from the Libertarian Party.
This is a look at the gubernatorial candidates in Texas.
Greg Abbott
Abbott, 64, is governor of texas since 2015 and won this year the internal one of the Republican Party with 66.5% of the votes.
The current governor is mostly recognized as a defender of the right to bear arms, in his first campaign of 2014 even had the support of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and has pushed for legislation to extend this right.
In addition to maintaining a tight grip on the Texas governorship, Abbott is aligned nationally with former President Donald Trump.
In recent months he has been trying to cement the right-wing electorate with a law restricting abortions in the state and other legislation that allows carry weapons without a special permit.
Abbott, a fierce critic of Biden’s immigration policies, started sending hundreds of volunteer migrants by bus to Washington and New York earlier this year. Texas has paid $12,707,720.92 to carry out these transfers, according to information obtained by , and the number of affected migrants ranges from 8,051 and 9,033.
Beth O’Rourke
Democrats have not governed Texas since 1995, when future Republican President George W. Bush succeeded Democrat Ann Richards.
Now they hope to get closer to this possibility with O’Rourke, 50 years old, who has been a councilman and mayor of El Paso, as well as a member of the House of Representatives from Texas, and won the Democratic internal election for governor with 91.4% of the vote.
He also ran unsuccessfully in the 2018 senator election. (which Ted Cruz won) and in the Democratic candidates for the 2020 presidential elections (which Biden won).
Precisely in the 2020 elections, O’Rourke was in favor of confiscate assault rifles held by the populationa measure resisted by the right-wing electorate.
On the other hand, in his first television campaign ad, O’Rourke questioned Abbott’s abortion restriction laws, warning “women will die”.
Delilah Barrios and Mark Tippetts
Among the options for governor is also the environmental activist Delilah Barrios, who is running for the Green Party of Texas.
In its official website she describes herself as “a working-class woman of color, mother of three beautiful children. This fight isn’t just for me or you, it’s for all of us.”
The list of candidates is also completed with the legal advisor Mark Tippett, running for the Libertarian Party.
“I am a libertarian and I am running for governor because I want to secure freedom for my children, for you and for future generations of Americans,” He says in his web page.
With information from Gregory Krieg.
