Well, Governor Greg Abbott and Democratic
challenger Beto O'Rourke are out making
their final pitches to voters about
who's the best man to lead Texas.
We reached out to both candidates,
inviting them to do interviews
with us ahead of Election Day.
During his final campaign stop in Austin,
O'Rourke and I sat down to talk about
what it would take for him to win Texas.
Dodging raindrops, Beto award runs into
E Austin's Doris Miller Auditorium,
his final stop in the capital
city before Election Day. Hello.
Before joining the other Democrats on
the ballot to rally voters, we sit down.
We're in the homestretch. How are you
feeling heading into Election Day?
I feel good. We we just came in from Houston.
We were at TSU and University of Houston.
We're here in Austin,
which will probably be the
last time I get to be here,
and really kind of feeling overwhelmed
with gratitude for the way that we've
been supported in this community.
Every time we've showed up,
people have turned out.
I was seeing pictures from outside of
University of Texas at Austin today, people.
Line 2 hours deep in order
to cast that ballot.
So you know everything's on the line.
And the selection of a
woman's right to choose,
a kid's right to survive the school year
without being shot in their classroom.
You know our right to come
together as a people, as a state,
without being defined and
divided by our differences.
And we want to make sure that we win.
And the people in Austin are doing
the work to make sure that we win.
So I feel really good coming back here.
From the polls to the fundraising,
this has been a tight race for you,
but it cannot be lost on you.
The fact that a Democrat has
not won a statewide election
in Texas in almost 30 years,
what is it going to take for a
Democrat to win a seat here?
We've got to bring out the people
that we haven't heard from yet,
whose votes haven't been counted,
whose voices haven't been heard,
the very people who are the targets of
voter suppression and voter intimidation.
If we can bring them out,
they're the majority that's
out there that would never.
Stand for a total abortion ban,
without exception for rape or incest
or a grid failure in the middle of
the energy capital of the world.
Or this exodus of teacher talent that
we're seeing from our schools right now.
But they've been the targets of
this effort to disenfranchise our
fellow Texans by the 1,000,000.
So our campaign is all about knocking
on their doors, bringing them in,
and making sure that they vote.
When they vote, we win.
And so far,
what we're seeing as we look at turnout
around the state and the people who
are turning out for the first time.
In their lives is very encouraging.
The message then you feel resonating
with those folks.
Absolutely. And and it's also
helped by our current governor.
I mean, after eight years of Greg Abbott,
you have some of the highest
property taxes in the country,
some of the highest utility bills anywhere.
You have him as the major
driver of inflation,
homicides up 50% after he ignored
advice from law enforcement and
signed permitless carry into law.
We lead the nation in school shootings,
gun violence, the leading cause of death.
Children and teenagers,
none of us are OK with this and
all of us want some kind of change.
And those who will be
voting in this election,
either they voted early or
they'll vote Tuesday.
On Election Day,
I believe they're going
to be voting for change.
Now we'll have more of my interview
with our work on K View News at six.
We reached out to Governor Greg Abbott's
campaign multiple times over the last
few months to request interviews.
We also invited him to conduct a
live town hall on Cave View to
share his message with voters.
He declined those offers last month,
though he did sit down with my
colleague Jason Whitley from our
sister station W FAA in Dallas.
Here's part of that interview. You
have served two terms in office.
You've scored major conservative wins.
What in the world do you
want to do in a third term?
Four more years in office if elected?
Most important thing is to keep Texas the
number one state for economic opportunity.
We also want to keep Texas
advancing educationally.
Remember this important fact?
When I first became governor,
I was shocked to learn that other
states were leading Texas as a concern.
Tier 1 research universities.
I promise to double that.
And now Texas has more Tier 1.
Research universities than any
other state in the United States.
Same thing applies to our K through
12 schools and that is today Texas has
more blue ribbon K through 12 schools
than any other state in the United States.
So we want to continue
advancing educationally,
economically,
but also with individual liberties.
So to make sure that the the freedoms
that Texans have always enjoyed,
which candidly are different than the
way they are in some other states,
that those freedoms are
going to be protected.
Now you can find the full interview
with Governor Abbott on kw.com.