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Texas Governor Race: Greg Abbott, Beto O’Rourke battle for state’s top job

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Texas Governor Race: Greg Abbott, Beto O’Rourke battle for state’s top job


This Election Day, Nov. 8, voters will determine who will function Texas’ governor for the subsequent 4 years.

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Greg Abbott is working for a 3rd time period, whereas his challengers are vying to flip a place that has been held by Republicans since 1995.

These working for Texas’ prime spot additionally embrace Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who’s making a 3rd run for workplace in as many election cycles, Libertarian Mark Tippetts, and Delilah Barrios for the Inexperienced Get together.

Polls have persistently proven Abbott with a lead heading into election day.

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Right here’s a more in-depth take a look at the candidates and the place they stand on some scorching button points.

Texas Governor Candidates

KATY, TEXAS – OCTOBER 27: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks throughout a ‘Get Out The Vote’ rally on the Fuzzy’s Pizza & Italian Cafe on October 27, 2022 in Katy, Texas. With lower than two weeks away from the midterm election, Gov. Greg Abbott contin

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Greg Abbott, Republican (Incumbent)

Incumbent Greg Abbott is at the moment serving his second time period as governor after first being elected to the place in 2014.

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Abbott graduated from the College of Texas at Austin after which earned a legislation diploma from Vanderbilt College Regulation College. Earlier than being elected governor, Abbott additionally served as Lawyer Normal of Texas, a Texas Supreme Courtroom justice and a state district choose in Harris County.

In keeping with Abbott’s marketing campaign web site, he goals to maintain Texas “protected and safe, encourages higher job development, reins in skyrocketing property taxes, elevates our training system, takes care of our veterans, and reforms authorities to unleash the total potential of our nice state.”

Gov. Greg Abbott heads to the border for election evening, with immigration a prime challenge for Texans

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His platform additionally requires “defending the 2nd Modification.” As governor, Abbott has loosened firearms restrictions. Simply final 12 months, he signed “open carry” into legislation which supplies most individuals in Texas aged 21 and older the choice to hold a handgun in most public locations and not using a allow.

Within the wake of the Uvalde Elementary College mass taking pictures in Might, some victims’ households have demanded the governor increase the minimal age to buy an AR-15-style rifle just like the one used within the taking pictures from 18 to 21 years previous. 

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Throughout a gubernatorial debate in September, Abbott stated his fingers are tied on the subject of altering the legislation on so-called assault weapons.

“It’s unconstitutional for a state to boost the age from 18 to 21 for an individual to purchase an AR-15,” stated Abbott.

In keeping with his marketing campaign web site, Abbott pledges to “proceed to battle any federal authorities overreach” on the subject of gun rights.

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Abbott’s platform additionally requires “defending the unborn” – with abortion on voters’ minds this 12 months following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the following ban in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott says he might cease busing migrants if Republicans take Congress

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In July 2021, Abbott signed the so-called “set off legislation” which might ban all abortions from the second of fertilization if the Supreme Courtroom dominated to overturn Roe v. Wade, which occurred this summer season. The legislation makes an exception solely to avoid wasting the lifetime of a pregnant affected person or stop “substantial impairment of main bodily operate,” however makes no exceptions for circumstances of rape, incest, or extreme fetal abnormalities.

Through the debate in September, Abbott spotlighted his actions taken on the Texas border. Abbott boasted a few $4 billion operation that has included migrant jails and buses to New York, Chicago and Washington and criticized President Joe Biden by title.

He didn’t say the place Texas would subsequent ship buses which have refocused the race on immigration however defended the locations to a number of the nation’s largest Democratic-led cities as sensible and never political.

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Click on right here to learn extra of Greg Abbott’s marketing campaign priorities.

HOUSTON, TX – MAY 27: Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke speaks to a crowd supporting gun management at Discovery Inexperienced throughout from the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation Annual Assembly on the George R. Brown Conference Heart, on Might 27, 20

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Beto O’Rourke, Democrat

Beto O’Rourke is a former El Paso congressman and presidential candidate. He was elected to the U.S. Home of Representatives in 2012 and served six years.

In 2018, he ran for U.S. Senate however misplaced to incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by lower than 3 share factors.

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O’Rourke then entered the presidential race in 2019 however dropped out eight months later. Now-President Joe Biden finally received the Democratic Get together nomination.

In keeping with his marketing campaign web site, O’Rourke has plans to “totally fund public faculties,” broaden Medicaid, decrease property taxes, create high-paying jobs and legalize marijuana whereas expunging the data of these arrested for marijuana possession.

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Beto O’Rourke will get help from Barack Obama forward of Election Day

Through the debate in September, O’Rourke pledged tighter gun legal guidelines and accused Abbott of doing little to cease one other Uvalde-style faculty bloodbath.

“It has been 18 weeks since their children have been killed, and never a factor has modified on this state to make it any much less seemingly that another little one will meet the identical destiny,” stated O’Rourke.

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In keeping with O’Rourke’s marketing campaign web site, he’s “pleased with Texas’ lengthy custom of accountable gun possession” however needs to alter “how simple it’s for folks to make use of firearms irresponsibly” in Texas.

“And whereas it may not be the simple or politically protected factor to say, I don’t consider any civilian ought to personal an AR-15 or AK-47,” his marketing campaign web site states.

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He additionally requires different “commonsense options that the majority Texans agree on” like closing the personal sale background examine loophole, an efficient purple flag legislation system, protected storage and little one entry prevention legal guidelines, and stronger home violence reporting legal guidelines, based on his marketing campaign web site.

Beto O’Rourke discusses weapons, abortion and Pres. Biden not doing sufficient concerning the border

On the hot-button challenge of reproductive alternative, O’Rourke pledged in the course of the debate to revive it. His marketing campaign web site states he’ll use “each software out there to repeal Abbott’s harmful abortion ban” and vows to veto “any future laws that seeks to additional management girls,” like limiting entry to contraception.

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Through the debate, O’Rourke referred to as the billions of state {dollars} spent on border safety wasteful. 

“What we’d like is a protected, authorized, orderly path for anybody who needs to come back right here to work, to affix household, or to hunt asylum,” stated O’Rourke.

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Click on right here to learn extra of Beto O’Rourke’s marketing campaign priorities.

Source: Mark Tippetts Marketing campaign

Mike Tippetts, Libertarian

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In keeping with his marketing campaign web site, Mark Tippetts is a world authorized and enterprise marketing consultant for individuals who personal property or do enterprise in Mexico and Latin America. He served as a council member in Lago Vista, Texas, in 2017.

Tippetts helps faculty alternative, legalizing marijuana and advocates for “the discount of taxation to the bottom possible degree.”

On his web site, Tippetts additionally requires the enacting of a “good complete immigration coverage, making it simpler for sincere, hardworking folks to come back work and reside right here legally.”

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Tippetts additionally opposes mandates and says companies, church buildings and different organizations ought to be capable to set their very own well being and security polices, whereas folks have the selection on the place to do enterprise.

Click on right here to learn extra of Mark Tippetts marketing campaign priorities.

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Delilah Barrios, Inexperienced Get together

In keeping with her platform, healthcare is Delilah Barrios’s prime concern. She says will probably be her “precedence to do no matter it takes to make sure medical care to each citizen of our nice state.”

Barrios additionally requires a increase within the minimal wage to $20/hr and a fundamental earnings assure.

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“What I consider is that when you can’t work, and occur to be on incapacity for instance it is best to find the money for to help your self,” her marketing campaign web site states. “Ideally we’ll provide supplemental earnings to folks to assist them with obligatory bills to incorporate: shelter, meals, water, web, and transportation.”

Barrios additionally views abortion as medical care and says “any makes an attempt to discourage, discriminate or stop entry to obligatory care will probably be penalized,” based on her marketing campaign web site.

Click on right here to learn extra of Delilah Barrios’s marketing campaign priorities.

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The Related Press contributed to this report.



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Harris County attorney pushes for stronger laws to protect Texas renters from negligent landlords

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Harris County attorney pushes for stronger laws to protect Texas renters from negligent landlords


HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s no secret that if you’re a renter in Texas, you don’t have the upper hand.

“It’s basically very friendly to landlords to be able to punish tenants, to evict tenants, and so it creates this, what I think is an overly favorable environment to landlords,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said.

When problems go without repair for months, the law says you still cannot withhold rent, and there are hoops you have to jump through to hold your landlord accountable.

Through Action 13’s Renters’ Rights, we hear about these problems often.

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So, what can be done?

It’s a long process and rare for a city or county in Texas to step in and hold negligent landlords accountable.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee is determined to change that. He says he knows what it’s like.

“Like many other folks in Harris County, I came up in a working-class family, and part of my upbringing was living in an apartment complex. This was a complex that had units that were routinely infested with roaches, that had cars being broken into all the time. My mother’s car was stolen multiple times from this apartment complex,” Menefee explained.

He’s seen it and wants to stop it.

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“Here in the state of Texas, there just aren’t laws on the books that allow us the opportunity to go after landlords,” Menefee said.

He says that come January when the legislature reconvenes, he’ll be in Austin, pushing for a fix. “What I’d like to see is a law that allows the government to step in and immediately call these folks to account, whether that’s through an administrative procedure, through fines, through a lawsuit, anything to push them in the direction of doing the right thing,” Menefee explained.

His office found a creative way to sue a local complex earlier this year.

The Palms on Rolling Creek in north Harris County had severe sewage issues for years. Months after the lawsuit was filed, the owners did make progress in fixing it.

Menefee is putting negligent landlords on notice, and you can help.

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“My ask to you is if you are living in an apartment complex that is not treating you right, or you know someone who is, have them report that to us and also reach out to your local, state representative or state senator,” Menefee said.

They need to know about the problems to help them make their case for why they believe these laws need to change.

“I understand your experience. I have lived through that myself. My family has lived through that. We hear you, and we are going to keep working on those issues,” Menefee said.

For more news updates, follow Courtney Carpenter on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.

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Nate Germonprez: Texas' Un-Real Breaststroker Becomes #7 Performer in History

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Nate Germonprez: Texas' Un-Real Breaststroker Becomes #7 Performer in History


2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invite

  • November 20-22, 2024
  • Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center — Austin, TX
  • When: 10 am CT prelims/6 pm CT finals
  • Participating Teams: Pitt, Stanford, Texas (host), USC, Wisconsin, BYU, Cal Poly
  • Meet Info
  • Live Results
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite”
  • Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals

The Texas Longhorns entered the summer with a lot of weaknesses on paper that needed to be addressed, and via the addition of high profile transfers and international recruits, they have addressed many of those.

The big question mark, though, was the breaststroke leg and whether the Longhorns had someone good enough to challenge for an NCAA title.

The group was led last season by 5th year Jake Foster, who swam 51.22 at a dual meet, and Will Scholtz, who was 52.09 at Big 12s. 52.0 is a nice time by almost any measure, but for a team hoping to climb several rungs on a ladder and challenge for an NCAA title, it wasn’t going to be enough.

The comments read things like “where are the Longhorns going to find a true breaststroker,” referencing the fact that Texas didn’t have a swimmer finish higher than 16th at NCAAs in the 100 breast last year.

But on Thursday morning, they may have found their guy as Nate Germonprez, now a sophomore, turned a corner with a 50.39.

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That makes him the 7th-best performer in the history of the event with the 15th best performance ever in a flat-start 100 yard breaststroke. Every time ranked ahead of him was done at a season-ending championship, making Germonprez’s swim the best mid-season time in history.

Top 10 Performers all-Time, Men’s 100 SCY Breaststroke

  1. Liam Bell, Cal – 49.53 (2024 NCAAs)
  2. Ian Finnerty, Indiana – 49.69 (2018 NCAAs)
  3. Max McHugh, Minnesota – 49.90 (2022 NCAAs)
  4. Caeleb Dressel, Florida – 50.03 (2018 SECs)
  5. Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 50.04 (2014 NCAAs)
  6. Carsten Vissering, USC – 50.30 (2019 NCAAs)
  7. Nate Germonprez, Texas – 50.39 (2024 Texas Invite)
  8. Caspar Corbeau, Texas – 50.49 (2022 NCAAs)
  9. Van Mathias, Indiana – 50.57 (2023 NCAAs)
  10. Brian Benzig, Towson – 50.59 (2024 NCAAs)

Germonprez is a bit of a paradox as a swimmer. He was a very good breaststroker in high school, winning an NCSA title in the 100 breaststroke in 2023. But he was so versatile that his 52.59 as a high school senior was almost overlooked, when in most classes that would make him a big ‘breaststroke’ signing.

We wrote several articles and did interviews in tribute to his versatility (here and here, for example).

He didn’t even swim a breaststroke race at the Olympic Trials, instead opting for the 50 free (53rd) and 200 IM (12th). He would later swim the 100 free (49.46), 200 IM (1:58.11), and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.48) at the Austin Futures meet, winning and going best times in each. His 100 breaststroke time would have put him into the semifinals at Trials.

Is he a real breaststroker? He’s not a pure breaststroker, if that’s what we mean when we say “real,” which is understandable because for most of swimming history, breaststrokers were sort of a different breed.

But he broke the school record of Caspar Corbeau (50.49), who is most certainly primarily a breaststroker (though he can sprint a little bit too).

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When Germonprez and Modglin both committed to Texas, it was fun to daydream about what that tandem of versatility could bloom into in the college ranks, and now we’re seeing it happen. As much as Texas needed guys like Chris Guiliano and Kacper Mawiuk and Hubert Kos to move back into the national title picture this quickly, they really needed a breatstroker, and now they have one.





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How To Spend An Overnighter In Fort Worth, Texas

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How To Spend An Overnighter In Fort Worth, Texas


If you’ve been one of the 10.8 million annual visitors to Forth Worth, Texas, you already know it’s worth a multi-day stay. But sometimes, you don’t have that luxury, and the best you can swing is an overnighter. I’m here to tell you, that’s not a bad thing. Fort Worth, a pleasantly compact city in comparison to its sprawling neighbor, Dallas, turns an overnight stay into an opportunity to immerse yourself in Texan culture while luxuriating in the finer things in life.

Start with a semi-private flight via JSX, which operates out of its own terminal outside of Dallas-Love airport. This streamlined service provides private-flying ease and comfort at a fraction of the cost (a typical flight from Houston to Dallas costs about $500 round trip and gets you there in about an hour). After an extremely comfortable flight, you’ll touch down in Dallas, and it is a matter of minutes to deplane, collect your bag, and hail a ride. Opt for a rental car from JSX onsite provider Go Rentals or just use a ride app for the day.

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The heart of Fort Worth is 40 minutes away – you’ll leave the hustle and bustle of the big city behind and find tree-lined (and impeccably clean) streets. You’ll also find the new Crescent Hotel Fort Worth, which Conde Nast Traveler recently dubbed the #1 Hotel in Texas. Service is on point – when I arrived feeling a little queasy, the staff managed to rustle up a bowl of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, and that was with the dining room temporarily reserved for a television crew shooting on the premises.

Which apparently is a thing in Fort Worth. It’s becoming an increasingly popular destination for movie and TV filming, and it’s clear why. The landscape is quite pretty, made all the prettier in the Cultural District, where Crescent Hotel is located. It features lovely museum buildings and wide streets that will beckon you outside to explore, and that exploration should include the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, the oldest botanic garden in Texas. It boasts 23 specialty gardens, such as the Japanese Garden ideal for a serene stroll, along with sculptures, ponds, waterfalls, and a don’t miss greenhouse.

If you prefer the indoors, just across the street from the Crescent Hotel is the Kimbell Art Museum, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and features works by creative legends like Rembrandt, Picasso, and Cezanne. The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a stone’s throw away, as is the Amon Carter Museum, currently featuring an exhibit entitled “Cowboy.”

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And speaking of cowboys, you must set aside time to witness an authentic and historically accurate cattle drive, which takes place twice daily at 11:30 am and 4:00 pm on Exchange Street in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. Watch as wranglers outfitted in boots, chaps, and hats reminiscent of the early American days drive cattle through the town. You can learn more about Fort Worth’s cowboy culture at The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and the Cattle Raisers Museum.

If you haven’t noticed by now, Fort Worth is a bit of a dichotomy with its attention to ranch life every bit as important as its evolution to modern city. That’s why a day here is a study in contrasts, and one of the best ways to see – and taste – that is through the food. Start with lunch on the hacienda-style patio at Joe T. Garcia’s, a popular Tex-Mex restaurant serving up margaritas and family recipes like bean chalupas since 1935.

For dinner, dive into Waters Restaurant for a fine dining experience helmed by Chef Jon Bonnell. Appetizers like crab cakes and tomatoes topped with fried goat cheese are about as close to perfect as you can get. And foods that depend on being cooked just right, like scallops and filet, are indeed just right. Waters is located in Sundance Square, a walkable entertainment and business district that is especially lovely at night and offers live theater, shopping, an historic Chisholm Trail mural, water features, and over 30 restaurants, in case you decide to stay.

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That’s the only problem with Fort Worth – one day and night will give you a taste that will have you hustling to get back. So maybe not such a problem after all.



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