Greg Abbott, Gina Hinojosa discuss tight race for Texas governor as early voting opens
Few, if any, expected the Texas Governor's race to become as close as the polls now indicate. Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term, faces Democratic State Representative Gina Hinojosa of Austin, who has gained momentum during the past month. Both candidates are going to be kicking it into high gear over the next two-plus weeks until Election Day to make sure they get their supporters to the polls. It comes as the Secretary of State announced Friday afternoon that Texas has more than 19 million registered voters, a new record number.
As of Friday evening, the Real Clear Politics average of polls between September 18 and October 11 shows Abbott led Hinojosa by just 1.8 percentage points, 48.4% to 46.6%. The Cook Political Report, which rates political races, rates this "Lean R". Abbott is favored to win despite the polling, in part because of his extensive voter turnout operation and funding.
