There is no more commanding Republican in Texas elected office than Gov. Greg Abbott, the three-term governor with a national profile, an unrivaled bully pulpit and a formidable $106 million campaign fund.
Abbott’s political power is at a peak. Ten challengers may appear alongside him on the March 3 primary ballot. But there is no universe in which Abbott is not the Republican nominee for governor.
All of which makes the decision about an Editorial Board endorsement in this primary race feel like the wrong question. Abbott is already the standard bearer for the Texas Republican Party. The real debate is whether four more years of his leadership is the right path for Texas — and that decision will rest with all voters in the November general election.
We support providing health care to more than 1 million Texans through an expansion of Medicaid that Abbott has stubbornly blocked. We support free elections that respect Texans’ voices, not the win-at-all-costs redistricting plot Abbott set in motion last year to shore up Republican seats in Congress.
But none of those issues are being contested in any meaningful way in the Republican primary. They are general election questions — not only in the governor’s race, but for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, whose views are in close alignment with Abbott’s.
So we are not issuing a recommendation to GOP primary voters in the races for governor or lieutenant governor. Republican voters will make their choice.
The broader question — whether Abbott’s direction reflects the will of the state as a whole — will be decided by all Texans in November.