President Donald Trump is set to campaign in ruby-red Texas on Wednesday — but the state’s Republican governor will be conspicuously absent in favor of other campaign stops.
Gov. Greg Abbott told Houston Chronicle reporter Ben Wermund he would miss the visit because of “other campaign events already planned,” according to Talking Points Memo.
The MAGA governor’s decision to skip Trump’s upcoming campaign stop in San Antonio was a clear “sign of the times,” for TMP founder and editor-in-chief Josh Marshall.
“It’s surprising to see Donald Trump campaigning in Texas a month before a midterm election, as he will this week,” Marshall wrote in his Tuesday analysis. “Far more surprising to see him snubbed by the incumbent Republican governor.”
Abbott’s no-show in the Lone Star State comes as polling suggests a competitive race in his reelection fight against Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.
Marshall cited a recent Fox News poll showing Abbott — who is seeking his fourth term — ahead by five points, while a New York Times/Siena and Marist polls put Hinojosa in front.
The political analyst also flagged “an additional concern for Abbott.”
“Ken Paxton seems to be running genuinely behind,” Marshall concluded Tuesday about the state's Republican Senate nominee. “So Abbott could also pick up some of the downdraft from that race.”
