The Race for the Lone Star State
The sheriff and the governor
On September 28, 2018, Lupe Valdez, the Democratic nominee for governor, joined Republican Governor Greg Abbott in their debate on a Friday evening. Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff, hammered Abbott in response to nearly every question, accusing him of stoking fear and focusing on the wrong issues. But Abbott, who is seeking a second term, spent more of his time previewing where he would take the state if elected to a second term. Still, Valdez showed a new face to the public that evening and even found some areas of vulnerability despite Abbott’s reputation as a micro-manager.
The topic of concern to most was that of immigration; Texas, being a rather large border state with Mexico, has gone back and forth on this issue for quite some time. One of their sharpest divisions occurred when they discussed the Texas Dream Act. It allows undocumented youth to pay in-state tuition for college if they have graduated from a state high school. However, Abbott pointed out, it contains a flaw. “The law says that [the students] had to demonstrate that they were on a pathway to achieving legal status; however, there is no apparatus in the law to make sure that is, in fact, being done.” Yet Abbott did not offer any solutions to this problem. When Valdez asked if he was blaming students for the faults of the law, he sidestepped, and responded saying the job of the state is to educate Texas students first. Weren’t they Texas students, too? Valdez asked. Abbott didn’t have a good enough response. It stuck and the audience’s perspective shifted a small bit in favor of her.
Schools were also a rather large issue-not long ago Texas had witnessed the fatal Santa Fe shooting that left ten dead in the aftermath. On arming teachers, Abbott remained firm in that “Never again shall we allow this to happen because schools are a place to learn, not a place for fear,”. Valdez disagreed. “I do believe that there should be some defense there but teachers are not the ones.” It wasn’t quite enough to persuade anyone, especially on such an emotional issue. Abbott had the upper hand here, as he had spoken to the students and families and made connections with them-having had sustained injuries that left him paralysed, he related with the survivors and spent much time in the hospital with those affected by the shooting.
The thing that might haunt the back of Texans minds is the most recent hurricane; Hurricane Harvey. Harvey, which caused extreme flooding in Houston and the surrounding areas, was responsible for $125 billion in damage and almost a hundred deaths. Valdez struck down without mercy on the response Abbott had to Harvey. She criticized Abbott’s actions after the hurricane, saying he had failed to help people still struggling to rebuild. “He calls a special sessions for bathrooms, but does not call a special session when people are dying,” Valdez said. “The rainy day fund is the biggest savings account in the United States. Governor, it rained.”
Even though Valdez fought back with strength, Abbott’s reputation precedes him and most Texans have remained red. Still, she made an impact in the polls after the debate, and even though it was only a few points, it’s enough to show the difference in the bumbling former sheriff to the politician who put a human face on larger topics and who made herself comfortable with the policies and laws of the Texas state. She won’t win, not by a long shot, but it wasn’t entirely the snooze fest everyone expected.
Update: Losing 42.5% to Abbott’s 55.8% is still a loss, but looking at the statistics, it’s not really all that bad. Compared to the first time Abbott ran for Governor, this was a pretty good fight-but not nearly as bad as the 20-point drubbing he delivered in 2014 against Davis, a former state senator from Fort Worth.
