Texas Gov Abbott vows to turn Harris County 'dark red' as he prepares to run for reelection

With early voting underway, Gov. Greg Abbott has been crisscrossing the state encouraging Texans to vote.

At a GOTV event in Cypress, a suburb north of Houston, he vowed to turn Harris County “dark red.”

"I have two priorities in this election,” Abbott told a crowd of several hundred people at Cypress BBQ. “Number one is to win reelection. Number two is to win Harris County. I’ve got $90 million in my bank account and I'm going to spend most of it in Harris County.”

He said he was supporting efforts “precinct by precinct” to “turn out voters who voted in the presidential election, turn out voters who never voted before. We’ve got to win Harris County and make Harris County dark red after this election."

Under Democratic leadership, the county, and its largest city, Houston, have been plagued with corruption, lack of accountability over billions of mismanaged or missing taxpayer dollars, increased taxes, high crime, and dilapidated water and road infrastructure, many residents argue. Newly elected Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a Democrat, has launched an effort to combat public corruption, reduce crime and improve infrastructure, crediting the governor and state legislature for providing assistance, The Center Square reported.

Earlier this month, Abbott launched a new task force targeting violent repeat offenders in Houston. Both he and Whitmire also launched additional efforts targeting homelessness and crime, The Center Square reported.

In recent elections, crime has been a top concern among Houston and Harris County voters after judges continued to release repeat offenders on low or no bond who are later arrested for committing another violent crime. The state legislature has attempted to address the issue by passing legislation, which Abbott has signed into law. This year, he signed another bail reform bill into law, which restricts judges from releasing violent repeat offenders. The legislature also passed resolutions adding 17 constitutional amendments to the ballot, including bail reform and sanctioning judges.

Proposition 3 authorizes magistrates to deny bail to individuals accused of committing a range of felony offenses, including sex crimes, violent crimes and human trafficking. It also requires a judge or magistrate to provide clear and convincing evidence that denying bail was necessary for the safety of the community, law enforcement, or the victim of the alleged offense.

Proposition 12 makes it easier to effectively sanction judges and justices for judicial misconduct.

“Early voting has already begun,” Abbott said, flanked by residents holding signs of family members who were killed by criminals after judges released them. “We need your participation because some of these things truly are life and death matters.”

“Harris County was the worst of the worst, but not the only county in the state that had this problem. You’ve had leftist judges let people arrested for murder back out on the street. The time has come to end that,” Abbott said.

Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat, also urged voters to pass Proposition 3.

“This is a club you don’t want to be a member of, but we need your help,” she said, pointing to families holding signs of their lost loved ones. “Proposition 3 is not just something on paper. It’s people’s families. These are children, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers of people.”

If Proposition 3 passes, it will “eliminate the excuses for rogue judges who insist that the law makes them let people lose on bond,” she said.

Ogg, who has long called for bail reform, broke with her party last year and endorsed Abbott, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Houston, and other Republicans who were tough on crime, The Center Square reported.

While she was DA, 350 attorneys in her office filed nearly 900,000 criminal cases in eight years. “That is way too many cases for a few lawyers,” she previously argued, adding that her office was “kept understaffed because there's a real push by my party not to incarcerate violent people.” Ogg often found herself at odds with Democratic Harris County commissioners who refused to fully fund law enforcement, prompting the state to get involved. She lost her reelection bid last year in a tight race.

Although Kamala Harris won Harris County with 52% in the November 2024 election, Republicans won nine county-based judicial seats. Republicans also won majorities in regional appellate courts statewide, flipping two courts to Republican majorities in historically Democratic strongholds. Six Republicans also won their Texas Supreme Court races, including justices from Houston, The Center Square reported.

Many credit the Judicial Fairness PAC and Stop Houston Murders, a nonpartisan citizen-based movement, for helping oust incumbent Democratic judges.

Abbott argues more can be done, which is why he is urging voters to pass all 17 constitutional amendments, including Proposition 3 and 12 to improve public safety.