As the Texas
gubernatorial race for 2022 heats up, news coverage strongly suggests that it might
be a slam dunk for Gov. Abbott. Indeed,
the governor continues to raise lots of campaign money and a recent poll has
Abbott leading Beto O’Rourke by 11 points in a hypothetical match-up. [i] The governor was also
spared the political pain of overseeing another failure of the electrical grid
system in Texas. A careful look at the polling data and a review of several controversial
policies supported by Gov. Abbott suggest that his campaign may not be out of
the woods.
Polling Data Results on Favorability
Despite Abbott’s 11-point
edge over Beto O’Rourke, only 51 percent of Texas registered voters approved of
his job as governor – mostly white Republicans. The poll data also showed that:
· 71 percent of
Blacks and 50 percent of Latinos disapproved of Abbott’s job performance as
governor, and
· 57 percent of
Blacks and 44 percent of Latinos had a favorable impression of Beto O’Rourke.
Assuming a significant
turnout by Black and Latino voters, Gov. Abbott’s candidacy could be in
jeopardy. Of course, Gov. Abbott may
feel confident that the various laws recently passed to restrict voter
participation will ensure a weak turnout by Black and Latino voters, but
aggressive voter turnout campaigns could overcome these barriers.
Polling Data on Texas Energy Grid
· While Gov. Abbott may
feel confident that the Texas electricity grid held up during the current
winter storm, nearly half (47%) of registered voters were not confident that
the state’s electricity grid was prepared to avoid blackouts this winter.
· Interestingly, in
a related Dallas Morning News story, [ii] it was revealed that the
demand on Texas’ grid had topped out at 60 gigawatts on Friday morning and that
this demand “never came near the record levels seen during last year’s winter
storm that brought the grid to a near collapse.” In other words, Gov. Abbott deserves
little credit for the adequate performance of the electricity grid this year since
we were all blessed with a milder winter that demanded less electricity.
Past Performance
Gov. Abbott, however,
does deserve credit for the many public policies that he and his fellow
Republicans have supported to the detriment of our quality of life in Texas,
especially for Black and Latino residents.
If you plan to vote for Gov. Abbott this March, you should take a moment
to reflect on the following policies and judge whether he really deserves your vote.
· Texas Electricity Grid
Remains Vulnerable: Your lack of action to prevent the
electricity grid crisis resulted in the loss of more than 240 lives. As the
primary steward of this state, you are responsible for this failure since you
appointed the members of the Public Utility Commission who ignored the advice
of industry experts for more than a decade to prepare for extreme weather. You
cannot hide behind the performance of the grid in 2022 since the system
benefited from milder weather conditions. You have yet to explain why recent
efforts to improve the weatherization of our infrastructure was not conducted
years earlier when it was recommended by industry energy experts.
· Texas gun laws
allow anyone to purchase a gun without a license or training. Beto O-Rourke is not alone in objecting to
this legislation and has the support of various police organizations. The recent massacre of 23 Latinos and two
dozen injuries in El Paso underscores the stupidity driving this legislation
and the legislature’s refusal to enact stiff gun control laws.[iii] It makes little sense, indeed, to support
pro-life policies related to abortion laws, while simultaneously making it
easier for Texans to end lives by making it easier to access firearms. In
addition to the increase of mass shootings, Texas was the second state,
following Florida, with the most road rage incidents involving a firearm in
2022. [iv] Not exactly a badge of
honor, Gov. Abbott.
· During the early
phases of the COVID-19 crisis, your vaccination and mask mandate policies
created confusion and increased the risk of infection and mortalities for many
Texans. Indeed, you decided to lift the mask mandate
against the important advice of health experts and other key trends -- Johns
Hopkins University showing low vaccination rates and high positivity rates for Texas; Hispanic
mortality rates were four times higher than whites; and Black mortality rates
were twice the rate of whites. You also threatened to block the distribution of
vaccines allocated to Dallas County because local public officials were
planning to target vaccines to the more vulnerable Black and Latino zip codes.
Texas Blacks and Latinos were already experiencing greater exposure to COVID-19
due to their jobs, housing arrangements and limited access to vaccination
sites.
· Falsely claiming
that the surge of migrants at the Texas border would lead to a rise in the
spread of COVID-19. But border agencies that process migrants
confirmed that they routinely quarantined and tested migrants for COVID-19
prior to entry and release. In addition, Gov. Abbott had refused federal funds
that Texas, local governments and non-profits could use to test all migrants
for the virus.
· Falsely claiming
that immigrants made crime worse in Texas. Studies addressing this issue in
Texas have confirmed that immigrants commit fewer
crimes, on average, than native-born Americans. [v]
Gov. Abbott, it is time for you to accept responsibility for your
poor judgment and poor performance in these areas. Your
administration presided over the decisions regarding the energy crisis that led
to the deaths of more than 240 Texans and caused significant damage to the
state’s infrastructure. Your administration generated significant confusion
during the COVID-19 crisis and threatened to block the allocation of vaccines
to vulnerable Black and Latino communities in Dallas County. And your
administration lifted the mask mandate despite objections by medical experts,
an action that contributed to higher mortality rates of Texas Blacks and
Latinos. You also created fear and hysteria by falsely associating higher
crime rates with immigrants and blaming migrants for spreading the COVID-19
virus.
In planning for the Texas gubernatorial race on March of 2022, let’s hope that voters will remember the series of public policy failures and false information campaigns that took place under the watch of Gov. Abbott. There is really no one else to blame.
[i] Garrett,
R. T. (Jan. 2022). Abbott running
comfortably ahead of O’Rourke in DMN-UT-Tyler poll; Paxton could face runoff.
The Dallas Morning News, Accessed at: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/01/29/abbott-running-comfortably-ahead-of-orourke-in-dmn-ut-tyler-poll-paxton-could-face-runoff/
[ii]
Jankowski, P. (February 2022). Texas
electric grid weathers winter blast, showing it’s ‘more reliable’ than ever,
Greg Abbott says. The Dallas Morning
News, Accessed at: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/02/04/power-grid-holding-up-as-gov-greg-abbott-gets-set-to-update-texans-on-impact-of-ongoing-freeze/
[iii] Silva, C.
(August 2021). White supremacy, racism: Remembering the El Paso massacre
that targeted Latinos. NBCNews.com, Accessed at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/white-supremacy-racism-remembering-el-paso-massacre-targeted-latinos-rcna1580
[iv] Borelli, L. (July 2021). Road rage statistics
2022. BankRate.com, accessed at: https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/road-rage-statistics/#stats
[v] Nowraster,
A. (2018, February 26). Criminal immigrants in Texas. The CATO Institute, Accessed at: https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/irpb-4-updated.pdf
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