In Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s third term, parental rights and school choice are high priorities

(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared victory in the Rio Grande Valley Tuesday night in McAllen, Texas, winning reelection to his third term.

Abbott also declared victory for other Republicans in South Texas. Based on unofficial results, the governor said they also were expected to win their races.

“We started this campaign in South Texas,” he said. “We celebrated my primary victory in South Texas. Tonight, we return to South Texas to celebrate my reelection for being your governor for four more years.

“We planted our flag in South Texas and we showed America that South Texas is now electing Republicans in our great state,” he added.

“The ground on which you are standing is now going to be represented for the first time by an Hispanic Republican woman, Monica De La Cruz,” he said. “She’ll go to Congress and the first thing she will do is to fire Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.”

According to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s Office, as of 10:30pm CST with 92% of the counties reporting and 38% of polling locations reporting, De La Cruz secured 54% of the vote.

But De La Cruz winning “is bigger than that,” Abbott continued, “because Republicans we endorsed were elected from Nueces County, to Cameron County, Hidalgo County and all the way over to Terrell County on the border and counties in-between.”

He said he ran for reelection to have safer streets in Texas, “for homeowners who are burdened by property taxes, for our oil field workers who begged for me to protect their jobs, for parents who just want to choose the school that’s best for their child.”

He said he ran for the farmers and ranchers on the border “who pleaded for a more secure border.”

Now that he won reelection, he said, “It’s time to go to work,” which “starts with keeping Texas the best economy in America and the No. 1 state for jobs.”

He said he’s planning on giving property tax owners the largest tax cut in Texas history and fighting against “Joe Biden’s war on oil and gas and to keep Texas No. 1 for oil and gas production in America.”

He said he planned to improve Texas education outcomes, to fully fund law enforcement officers, “end easy bail policies and escalate deadly battles against fentanyl” pouring across the border.

He also reiterated his commitment to border security, but pointed to renewed political resolve coming from Washington, D.C., saying the new Republican Congress “will do their part to secure the border.”

Republicans were favored to regain majority of the U.S. House but many undecided races remained too close. Control of the Senate could be determined by a December runoff in Georgia.

Abbott called on Congress to reinstate the Remain in Mexico Policy and to finish building the border wall. He also said Congress “must reimburse the state of Texas for every penny we’ve spent doing the federal government’s job to secure the border. Congress should also defund the 87,000 IRS agents that [President] Joe Biden tried to put in place and use that money to hire 87,000 Border Patrol agents so they can secure our border.”

But he added, “where and if Congress falls short, Texas must continue our efforts to secure our border.”

Since his border mission began in March 2021, law enforcement officers in Texas have apprehended more than 321,000 illegal foreign nationals and made more than 21,400 criminal arrests, with more than 18,900 felony charges reported. They’ve also seized over 350 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill everyone in the United States.

Texas has also bused nearly 8,300 people to Washington, D.C., since April, over 3,500 to New York City since August 5, and more than 1,100 to Chicago since August 31. The busing mission, he argues, “is providing much-needed relief to our overwhelmed border communities.”