Gov. Greg Abbott pledges to support law enforcement, make Texans’ safety a priority
In a press conference with the Fort Worth Police Officers Association on Wednesday, Gov. Greg Abbott said one of Texas’ top issues is public safety and he pledged to continue supporting law enforcement agencies across the state if re-elected.
The Wednesday news conference follows the release of a television ad from the governor’s campaign claiming Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke supports the movement to “defund police.” It’s Abbott’s second TV ad to focus on law enforcement funding.
When asked by a reporter for Abbott’s response to O’Rourke’s assertions that his comments on defunding police only referred to the Minneapolis Police Department after George Floyd’s death and not to Texas, Abbott asserted that O’Rourke tends to change his story depending on what race he is in and where he is campaigning.
“Beto has a credibility problem,” Abbott said. “He’s a con man who features a different story based upon the crowd he’s talking to.”
O’Rourke has consistently denied that he supports defunding police departments.
In an Aug. 12 speech to Rotary Club members in Fort Worth, O’Rourke said the state needs to prioritize funding for police officers.
“One priority for the governor, for the state senator, for anyone in a position of public trust is to keep the people that you serve safe and secure,” O’Rourke said. “And so it means having the backs of members of law enforcement, police officers, sheriff’s deputies, anyone who wears that badge.”
Abbott said he blames much of Texas’ security problems on the Biden administration’s open border policies and said O’Rourke will do nothing to secure the border.
“I’m running for reelection to secure our border, to fully fund our police officers and to ensure that we reform the bail system to keep dangerous criminals behind bars,” Abbott said.
In his Aug. 12 visit to Fort Worth, O’Rourke spoke of the need to both secure the U.S./Mexico border and reform our current immigration system.
“We could come up with policy changes that both secure that border and allow us to have an operational immigration system that matches our needs and values,” O’Rourke said.
Abbott and O’Rourke are scheduled to debate on Sept. 30. The gubernatorial election will take place Nov. 8.
Also on Wednesday, The Texas Politics Project at The University of Texas at Austin released a new poll showing Abbott earning 45% of votes in the November election as opposed to O’Rourke’s 40%.
The polling found that those surveyed believe Abbott would do a better job in the areas of public safety, the economy, property taxes, voting and elections, and immigration and border security. They trusted O’Rourke to do a better job in the areas of abortion and the environment/climate change.
Star-Telegram staff writers Eleanor Dearman and Abby Church contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 5:19 PM.
