As Texas heads toward another high-stakes primary election, voters are once again being asked to choose who will lead the nation’s second-most populous state and one of the largest economies in the world. To help readers better understand the field, High Plains Pundit is sharing background information on the leading candidates for governor.
About the Office
The governor of Texas serves as the state’s chief executive and wields significant authority over policy, budgeting, and governance. Responsibilities include implementing state laws, proposing a biennial budget to the Legislature, and leading the state’s emergency response efforts. The governor also serves as commander of the Texas Military Forces during emergencies.
One of the most consequential powers of the office lies in appointments. The governor selects the leadership of major state agencies, including the Department of Public Safety, which oversees state law enforcement, and the Texas Education Agency, which regulates public schools. The governor also appoints members to hundreds of boards and commissions, including university system boards of regents, utility regulators, and education officials.
The officeholder can veto legislation passed by the Legislature, issue executive orders, and declare disasters that unlock emergency funding and resources. The governor alone has the authority to call special legislative sessions and determine their agenda, a power that has been used frequently in recent years to address redistricting, disaster response, and priority policy issues.
When vacancies arise due to resignation or death, the governor is responsible for calling special elections or appointing replacements. Over time, these cumulative appointments can significantly expand a governor’s influence across state government.
What’s at Stake
The next governor will lead Texas, the world’s eighth-largest economy and the largest state currently governed by Republicans. The position carries enormous influence over the state’s legislative direction, budget priorities, and relationship with the federal government.
Because appointments accumulate over time, governors who serve multiple terms can shape policy long after individual legislative sessions end. Current Governor Greg Abbott, now in office for more than a decade, has appointed every regent serving on Texas public university boards, giving the office broad influence over higher education, energy regulation, elections administration, and infrastructure policy.
With debates over property taxes, public education, border security, health care, and economic growth dominating state politics, the outcome of this race will have long-lasting consequences.
Republican Primary
Greg Abbott
Republican incumbent Greg Abbott enters the primary as the clear front-runner. He reports more than $105 million in cash on hand, dwarfing the rest of the field. His donor base includes major figures from the energy, finance, and business sectors, as well as well-funded political action committees.
Abbott is serving his third term as governor, having first been elected in 2014. Before becoming governor, he served as the longest-tenured attorney general in Texas history, as well as on the Texas Supreme Court and as a state district judge.
Ideologically, Abbott has evolved alongside the Republican Party. Earlier in his career, he was closely associated with the party’s pro-business establishment. Over time, he has increasingly aligned himself with socially conservative priorities and national Republican figures, including President Donald Trump. He has played an aggressive role in Republican primaries, using campaign resources to support favored candidates and challenge incumbents who opposed key initiatives, particularly private school vouchers.
Abbott’s policy priorities include reducing property taxes through proposals such as lowering appraisal caps, requiring voter approval for tax increases, and exploring the elimination of school property taxes for homeowners. He has made border security a defining issue through Operation Lone Star, an expansive and costly effort involving state law enforcement, infrastructure, and immigration enforcement. Other priorities include tightening bail laws, expanding private school choice, and promoting economic growth through regulatory changes and new government efficiency initiatives.
Abbott has received endorsements from President Trump and several major law enforcement organizations, reinforcing his dominance within the party.
Pete “Doc” Chambers
Pete Chambers is challenging Abbott from the right in the Republican primary. His campaign has minimal fundraising compared to the incumbent, reporting less than $30,000 in cash on hand.
Chambers is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret, a primary care physician, and the president of a Texas-based ministry organization. He has also served as a task force surgeon associated with Operation Lone Star.
Chambers argues that Abbott has failed to deliver meaningful results on issues such as border security and property taxes, despite years in office. His platform includes abolishing property taxes, opposing private school vouchers, expanding energy and water infrastructure, and restricting the use of foreign labor and certain visa programs. His campaign appeals primarily to conservative voters dissatisfied with the pace or scope of Abbott’s policies.
Several other candidates are also running in the Republican primary, though none have demonstrated significant fundraising or statewide name recognition.
Democratic Primary
Gina Hinojosa
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa is the best-funded and most experienced candidate in the Democratic field. She reports more than $660,000 in cash on hand, including substantial personal loans to her campaign.
Hinojosa is serving her fifth term in the Texas House of Representatives and previously held leadership roles on the Austin Independent School District board. Her professional background includes extensive work as a civil rights and labor attorney.
Ideologically, Hinojosa is aligned with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and serves as vice chair of the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus. Her legislative focus has centered on public education funding, teacher pay, health care access, and corporate regulation.
Her platform emphasizes increasing investment in public schools, opposing private school vouchers, addressing rising health care costs by regulating private equity involvement, and supporting working families and small businesses.
Chris Bell
Chris Bell brings long experience and name recognition to the Democratic primary, though his campaign fundraising has been limited. Bell previously served one term in Congress before redistricting eliminated his district. He was the Democratic nominee for governor in 2006 and has run for several other offices over the years.
Bell’s political career has emphasized ethics reform, public education, and government accountability. In more recent campaigns, he has supported Medicaid expansion, stricter gun regulations, climate policy initiatives, and transportation reform. His current platform includes boosting public education funding, opposing vouchers, lowering insurance costs, and reforming transportation governance.
Bobby Cole
Bobby Cole is positioning himself as a rural, pro-worker Democrat. A retired firefighter, cattle rancher, and poultry producer, Cole highlights his working-class background and nonpolitical career.
Cole supports raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid, lowering property taxes, restoring abortion access, and increasing public school funding while opposing private school vouchers. His fundraising remains modest, but his message is aimed at rural and working-class voters who feel disconnected from state leadership.
Several additional candidates are running in the Democratic primary, though most have limited resources or visibility. One previously announced candidate, Andrew White, has withdrawn from the race.
Looking Ahead
With an entrenched incumbent on the Republican side and a divided Democratic field, the primary elections will help determine the shape of Texas politics for years to come. Voters will decide not only between competing policy visions but also between different philosophies about the scope and direction of state power.
