Greg Abbott Unveils Bid for Record Fourth Term as Texas Governor

(Bloomberg) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he’ll run for reelection, unveiling an unprecedented bid for a fourth term leading the second-largest state in the US.

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Abbott, a close Republican ally of President Donald Trump, said he would continue working to cut taxes, decrease regulation and grow the Texas economy.

“As Texans, we will defend this state with every fiber of our being. We will protect what we build. We will finish what we started. We will lead Texas into its glorious future,” Abbott, 67, said at an event in Houston Sunday.

Since first winning election in 2014, Abbott has become one of the most powerful governors in Texas history and a leading figure in the national immigration debate. He flexed his increased sway over the state legislature this year, pushing through a series of bills including an off-year congressional redistricting plan designed to give Republicans the upper hand in the 2026 midterm elections.

He has also reshaped the Republican Party in Texas. After a school-voucher bill failed to pass during the last legislative session, in part due to opposition from rural Republicans, Abbott led a grueling primary campaign that ousted enough opponents to get the program passed this year.

During the administration of President Joe Biden, Abbott built a national profile by implementing a series of strict immigration measures, culminating in Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion program that sent more than 10,000 Texas National Guard soldiers to the border. He elevated a surge of migration at the Texas-Mexico border into a decisive issue in the 2024 presidential election, in part by sending bus loads of undocumented immigrants to Democratic-controlled cities.

The new campaign will keep Abbott in the national conversation as the Republican Party looks for a standard bearer in the 2028 presidential election.

Abbott would be the first person to win four individual terms as governor of Texas. Before ascending to the governor’s mansion in 2014, he was the longest-serving attorney general in Texas history.

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