With topics like abortion, immigration, and gun safety weighing heavily on Texans’ minds, junior Vivian Jordan knows the governor of Texas has the power to change each and every citizen’s day-to-day life. That’s why she believes it’s important that Texans vote for politicians who will represent them with their policy.

Last November, Gov. Greg Abbott faced off against Beto O’Rourke in a head-to-head election that would decide the fate of the Texas legislature. Abbott secured 54.8% of the vote, winning the election and securing his continued position as governor of Texas.

“I’m not surprised Abbott was reelected, because overall, Texas is still a red state,” government teacher Ruth Narvaiz said. “If you look at a map of how people vote, there are democratic splotches in the big cities. So you consistently see blue in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and here in Austin; the rest of the state is red, which overwhelms the blue votes.”

Abbott and O’Rourke, as the two major candidates for governor, had differing opinions on how the state should be managed. Although Abbott had more supporters state-wide, O’Rourke was the favored candidate in Austin. Although she knew she would see these results, Jordan was unhappy to hear of O’Rourke’s defeat.

“His loss is both upsetting and expected,” Jordan said. “As someone who’s lived both in and out of this city, it’s expected that places like Austin vote democratic, because people are sharing new opinions. But, most of the state is still red, and that’s really disappointing.”

In his third inaugural speech, delivered January 17, Abbott promised to focus on the economy, infrastructure, and school systems in Texas. Jordan hopes to see positive reforms, although she doubts that’s what she’ll see.

“There’s not much I agree with Abbott on, so there’s lots of changes I’d like made,” senior Hunter Benson said. “I want to see less extreme Republicans, and more reasonable people and policies.”

Along with these topics, he discussed allocating more money to border control and to the police. Abbott claimed that police de-funding “let dangerous criminals back on our streets,” and that “the Biden Administration is not enforcing the [immigration] laws already on the books.” Benson believes Texas should hold different priorities, instead of focusing on federal matters.

“That’s not his job,” Narvaiz said. “Border control is a federal concern. For states to handle that; it’s not how the government works. Greg Abbott’s an attorney, he knows that’s not how the government works. He just wants to sound good in his speech, but that’s why you need to look at the facts behind what he’s saying.”

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Texas GDP grew 8.2% in the third quarter of 2022, far above the national average, 3.2%. This has created a budget surplus in Texas; with the extra funds, Abbott has proposed a cut to property taxes.

“I don’t know if the tax cuts will pass,” Narvaiz said. “I would love for my property taxes to be lower, but the government has to get money somehow. We have a surplus now, but what happens in ten years when that surplus is used up? Property taxes pay for education, so where are you going to get money to run schools, if that surplus is used and tax

revenue has gone down?”

In February 2021, Texas faced a winter storm that turned into a state-wide power crisis. Since then, many Texans, Jordan included, have held a lack of trust in the state’s grid; despite this, Abbott claims that, since their bipartisan reforms, “no Texan has lost power because of the grid.” He now plans on expanding the grid, to match population growth.

“There’s enough issues with the grid that need to be addressed, before we begin working on expansion,” Jordan said. “We were forced to see that in the last few freezes, with Texans losing power.”

With regards to changing the student curriculum, Abbott stated that “schools are for education, not indoctrination,” and that they “should not push social agendas.” As Abbott claims, “no one knows what’s better for a child’s education than their parents.” Not even their teachers.

“I think Abbott’s trying to create an issue where there isn’t one,” Benson said. “It’s something a lot of Republicans do, pick a random topic to make people mad. They just do that to have something to say, and because they want to teach their own divisive ideas.”

On May 24, 2022, 21 students and teachers lost their lives to a teenage gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Narvaiz hopes to see rulings passed in response to this tragedy.

“I don’t know how they will address this, but it’s an important issue, and it’s gotten a lot of attention,” Narvaiz said. “It would be good to see Abbott pass something related to school safety. We have a wide open campus; we’re an easy target for someone who wants to come in with bad intentions. Anything to make this campus safer is a great idea.”

Both Benson and Jordan believe it’s important for teens to follow the changing world of politics around them. Narvaiz agrees that, though teens don’t often take these things to heart, they should pay attention so they know how to step into their future role as voters.

“These topics are especially important when I’m looking at my students,” Narvaiz said. “Many of them will be 18 soon, and if they didn’t vote in this election, they’ll be able to vote in the next one. If, say, Greg Abbott’s running again, they need to form their own opinions about him now, so they can decide how to vote in the future.”