© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Abbott Says He Feels Good About His Chances With Hispanic Voters

Ryan E. Poppe

Casting his ballot ahead of Tuesday’s election, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott remains confident about his chances amongst likely Hispanic voters. Abbott predicts his campaign will win a majority of votes throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

The lines for early voting were longer than in 2010, including for the Republican candidate for governor, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who waited to cast a ballot for himself before the last day of early voting. 

One of the groups heavily targeted by both parties this election has been Hispanic voters, who, Abbott said, would carry him to the governor’s mansion despite his comparing the troubles of South Texas to that of a third world nation.

“We’ve devoted a lot of resources down there, we have more people on the ground in the Rio Grande Valley than Rick Perry had for the entire state of Texas. And obviously, my multicultural family has played a role in our ability to connect with the Rio Grande Valley,” said Abbot, confidently.

He re-emphasized the point that, if elected, his wife would be the first Hispanic “first-lady” for the state.

The latest poll conducted by the University of Texas and the Texas Tribune shows Abbott and his Democratic opponent, Wendy Davis, neck-and-neck among Latino voters.

His campaign, though, is confident about winning Cameron County and taking more than 45 percent of the voting population for Hidalgo County, because of where Abbott stands on issues important to Hispanic families. One of those issues is how the state regulates abortion. After stating that he supported laws allowing for abortion up to 20 weeks, Abbott was called on clarify his “pro-life” position.

“Even Roe v. Wade says that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting the health and safety of a mother and protecting the health and well-being of the unborn,” he stated. 

In 2013, though he had said he was not a supporter of the 1973 Supreme Court case legalizing abortion.

Abbott’s stand is simple. He chose to go with the law: We live within a nation of laws and the state has to operate within those laws.

Ryan started his radio career in 2002 working for Austin’s News Radio KLBJ-AM as a show producer for the station's organic gardening shows. This slowly evolved into a role as the morning show producer and later as the group’s executive producer.