At an evangelical mega-church in the Woodlands on January 10, roughly 600 conservatives gathered to vent their frustrations over Governor Greg Abbott at a gubernatorial round table.
“Our goal is to force a runoff, which will probably be between Abbott and one of these gentlemen on the stage,” said Fran Rhodes, president of the True Texas Project, a conservative activist group founded 12 years ago as the Tarrant County Tea Party. “There are eight people running, so that’s seven opportunities to vote for not-Abbott.”
For the first time in his political career, Abbott is in for a fight. Since he was elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1996 by a margin of 68 points, he has yet to face a serious primary challenge for elected office. Now, with a bevy of hyper-conservative challengers, Abbot is scrambling to cover his right flank.
