Texas Republican Governor Abbott Faces Conservative Challengers In Tuesday Primary

Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott was aiming to hold off challengers on his right flank on Tuesday as the state holds the first nominating contest of the U.S. midterms.

The Republican winner will likely face off in November against Democratic former Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who faced only token opposition in the Democratic primary.

Abbott secured former President Donald Trump's endorsement last summer and has nearly $50 million in campaign money. He is considered likely to prevail against his most notable opponents, former Texas Republican Party Chairman Allen West and former state Senator Don Huffines, who lag far behind in polls.

Texas primary voters were also selecting their parties' nominees for the U.S. House of Representatives and other statewide offices. It is the first test of new Republican-backed voting restrictions passed in response to former Trump's false claims of election fraud.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were no reports of long delays or major problems at polling places, following weeks in which several counties recorded an unprecedented number of rejected mail-in ballots due to new identification requirements.

Election officials in Harris County, the state's largest and home to Houston, on Tuesday reported more than 11,000 mail-in ballots - nearly 30% of those sent in - had been flagged for missing or incorrect ID information.

The results, which will come in after polls begin closing at 7 p.m. CT (0100 GMT), could offer clues about the mood of American voters who decide on Nov. 8 which party will control Congress for the rest of President Joe Biden's four-year term.

Biden, whose public approval remains at a low 43%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll completed on Wednesday, was set to deliver his annual State of the Union address to the American people in the evening.

Midterm elections typically serve as a referendum on the sitting president, and Republicans are favored to win a majority in at least one of the two chambers of Congress that Democrats control by razor-thin margins. That would allow Republicans to block Biden's legislative agenda and launch investigations that could damage his administration.

Texas's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, is running for a third term, despite his pending 2015 indictment for securities fraud. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing and has been endorsed by Trump.

Paxton's Republican opponents include firebrand U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert, Land Commissioner George P. Bush, grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.

Under Texas law, if no candidate exceeds 50% of the vote, the two top vote-getters advance to a runoff election on May 24.

ABBOTT PUSHES CONSERVATIVE AGENDA

Abbott has pursued increasingly conservative policies during his second term, including opposing COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. He signed the most restrictive abortion ban of any U.S. state and supported a Mexico border wall.

Last week, he instructed state agencies to consider medical treatment for transgender adolescents as child abuse, days after Paxton issued a legal opinion to that effect. While the full effect of the order remains unclear, transgender advocates decried the move as discriminatory and dangerous.

"Abbott has not left much room to the right of him for these competitors to gain any traction," said James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas. "He's had his foot on the gas pedal in a perpetual right turn."

O'Rourke has taken in more than $13 million since launching his campaign in November. The former congressman, who ran a surprisingly strong but unsuccessful race for U.S. Senate in 2018 and also vied briefly in a crowded field for his party's 2020 presidential nomination, reported having $6.7 million on hand as of Feb. 19.

The Democrat has attacked Abbott's handling of the state's power grid, which failed during winter storms that killed hundreds in February 2021.

Abbott's campaign has sought to tie O'Rourke to national Democrats, including Biden, pointing to statements from his brief presidential campaign to portray him as too liberal for Texas.

Among congressional races, Republican-backed redistricting has eliminated virtually every competitive district. Still, some primaries will provide early looks at how each party is navigating internal tensions.

In the 28th District in south Texas, incumbent Representative Henry Cuellar, one of the most conservative House Democrats, will face progressive Jessica Cisneros for the second time.

Either could prove vulnerable in November. Federal investigators searched Cuellar's home recently, though he has denied wrongdoing. Cisneros, closely aligned with liberals such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, may be susceptible to Republican attacks that she is extreme.

Republicans have their own proxy battle in the 8th District, where House leadership has backed former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell. Trump acolytes in the House favor Christian Collins, a former campaign aide to Senator Ted Cruz.

The 15th District, perhaps the most competitive this fall, has a crowded field for both parties after incumbent Democrat Vicente Gonzalez opted to run in a neighboring district. Republicans are hopeful they can flip the seat in November after Trump showed unexpected strength among Hispanic voters in 2020.