{"id":479109,"date":"2026-10-28T08:51:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T08:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479109\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T08:51:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T08:51:23","slug":"will-school-vouchers-state-takeovers-motivate-texas-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479109\/","title":{"rendered":"Will school vouchers, state takeovers motivate Texas voters?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy on our About page<\/a> and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Two years after helping oust Republican state lawmakers who initially thwarted his bid to create a school voucher program in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> is himself on voters\u2019 ballots, asking for a fourth term. But on the campaign trail, he\u2019s not centering the Republican education victories he\u2019s secured in office.<\/p>\n

And as Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa<\/a> heads into Nov. 3 as perhaps Abbott\u2019s toughest challenger yet<\/a>, she\u2019s using his education record \u2014 including the growing number of school districts taken over by the state \u2014 to put him on the defensive.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say whether focusing on education will help Hinojosa. Voters this year are more motivated by the rising cost of living<\/a>, the economy and corruption, according<\/a> to a University of Texas poll conducted earlier this month. But given how tight the race is \u2014 and that voters in the same poll are equally split on which candidate will be better on public education \u2014 experts say Hinojosa is leaning into her area of expertise, which gives her credibility. <\/p>\n

Abbott and other Republicans\u2019 choice to focus on other issues could help beat back Democratic challengers in the litany of close races<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Abbott has said he will crack down on teacher misconduct, limit devices in the classroom<\/a> and trim administrative spending in schools. This week, he announced investments in teacher recruitment<\/a> that were included in last year\u2019s school finance bill. But in the final weeks of his campaign, he has centered on slashing property taxes, securing the border and protecting Texas\u2019 conservative identity, rather than education. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn Texas, crime is down, communities are safe, the border\u2019s more secure, and I have an opponent who\u2019s against those safe community policies,\u201d Abbott said in a CBS Texas interview<\/a>. \u201cAnd we\u2019re working on the education side also. Our students are doing better in schools than ever before, and we\u2019ve provided record funding for high-skilled job training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Hinojosa has built her campaign\u2019s momentum around \u201csaving public schools,\u201d leaning into opposition to state takeovers of districts, an academic intervention tool that has disgruntled urban communities. She\u2019s vowed to fire Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath<\/a>, who oversees those takeovers, on her first day in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that Greg Abbott has taken over Fort Worth ISD (and) Beaumont ISD,\u201d Hinojosa said at a press conference in Houston last month. \u201cThis is a model that threatens our public school kids across this state. When I am governor, my plan will be to secure the American dream, and we start by saving Texas schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vouchers<\/p>\n

Republicans haven\u2019t leaned into school vouchers, which was a signature win among GOP leaders that defined the last election cycle.<\/p>\n

Abbott endorsed several challengers<\/a> to incumbent Texas House members in the 2024 GOP primary, creating a contentious election environment to replace many voucher opponents with supporters and paved the way for passage of a $1 billion voucher program that launched this year<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Matthew Wilson, a researcher at Southern Methodist University, said that move could sway rural voters at the ballot box who didn\u2019t want to direct taxpayer dollars to subsidize private school tuition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly did create some resentment and animosity, and it\u2019s part of a set of issues that has driven a wedge between urban and suburban Republicans versus rural Republicans,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

Still, Wilson said swaths of rural Texas voters are hardly likely to flip blue. The risk Republicans face is disaffected GOP voters not showing up to the ballot box at all. <\/p>\n

After all, statewide Republican victories have long hinged on dominating in rural Texas. In 2022, Abbott secured 80% of the vote in rural counties \u2014 building a roughly 668,000-vote advantage over Democrat Beto O\u2019Rourke that erased the governor\u2019s deficit in urban areas, according to an analysis<\/a> from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.<\/p>\n

The backlash over vouchers could shape down-ballot legislative races, where voters will choose the lawmakers who control the program\u2019s future, said Leslie Finger, a political scientist at the University of North Texas. In the lead up to the election, Republican candidates\u2019 messaging around the issue has been hushed, which may be because public schools are losing money or because it is just a wonky issue to explain. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a little bit on the defensive now,\u201d Finger said. \u201cThey recognize there are talking points against it. \u2026 If you have an issue that has some dimension on which it\u2019s damaging, you don\u2019t want to emphasize it.\u201d<\/p>\n

School takeovers<\/p>\n

In urban areas, the state\u2019s intervention to turnaround campuses struggling with low STAAR scores has ousted the elected school board and superintendent in seven school districts since 2023.<\/p>\n

In Harris County, where Abbott has spent heavily<\/a> in hopes of flipping the state\u2019s most populous blue county red<\/a>, the Texas Education Agency appointed controversial education reformer Mike Miles as superintendent of Houston ISD<\/a>, the state\u2019s largest school district.<\/p>\n

A pair of districts \u2014 Fort Worth<\/a> and Lake Worth<\/a> \u2014 are now in the midst of aggressive intervention in Tarrant County, a key battleground where both Republicans and Democrats are racing to make gains this November. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge to see the impact that the state takeover of Fort Worth ISD has had on voter engagement and voter turnout,\u201d said Zach Leonard, the president of Fort Worth-based advocacy group Families Organized and Responding to Takeover. <\/p>\n

Allison Campolo, the chair of the Tarrant County Democratic Party, said the state takeover of Fort Worth ISD has made parents in the county feel \u201cdisenfranchised and unheard.\u201d She said the issue has become \u201csuper motivational\u201d for voters.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201cI had the exact words said to me: \u2018I had no idea how many people were so upset about Fort Worth ISD,\u2019\u201d Campolo said. \u201cEven though we know and we\u2019re aware, still, our poll greeters are surprised by how many people are so upset about the state takeover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tarrant County Republican Party chair Tim Davis did not respond to requests for comment. <\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s campaign notes that it takes five consecutive years of failing state accountability grades for districts to trigger a law allowing the state to take them over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a decision made after one or two failing years,\u201d Abbott said. \u201cIn Houston ISD, state intervention led to a doubling of A and B-rated schools and a 90% reduction in D and F-rated schools. We brought transformative change that improved student outcomes in Houston, and we expect to see the same results in Fort Worth.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Hinojosa made a campaign promise to end school takeovers, education advocacy organizations and teachers\u2019 unions in largely Democratic-led urban areas \u2014 such as Houston and Austin \u2014 are organizing parents, teachers and community members to vote for her. If she takes office, she may face an uphill battle to legally dismantle state takeovers without the support of the Republican-controlled Legislature.<\/p>\n

Still, at the ballot box, education competes with long-standing top issues on voters\u2019 minds, such as the economy and public safety, said Joel Leader, an assistant professor of practice in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Arlington. <\/p>\n

Just one in five registered voters<\/a> have a child in the school system. For those who are not directly affected by education policy, it is a less salient issue than the price of gas or groceries, said Joshua Blank, the director of research of the Texas Politics Project.<\/p>\n

Blank said that given Republicans\u2019 vulnerability this cycle, with an unpopular GOP president in the White House and consumer prices putting pressure on household budgets, how much public education will sway an already close election is an open question. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not one with an easy answer,\u201d Blank said.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a major financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on The Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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