Greg Abbott is the incumbent Governor of Texas who assumed office on January 20, 2015 alongside Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick as the successor of Rick Perry. Abbott is a former Attorney General of Texas (2002 – 2015) and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas (1995 – 2001).
Early Life and Education
On November 13, 1957, Greg Abbot was born to a stockbroker father Calvin Roger Abbott and a homemaker mother Doris Lechristia. Although Abbott was born in Wichita Falls, he spent most of his early days in Longview and Duncanville. While at Duncanville, Abbott attended Duncanville High School and successfully graduated in the late 1970s.
Greg Abbott entered the University of Texas at Austin for undergraduate studies in finance. Gaining his finance degree, Abbot joined Vanderbilt University for his further education. Subsequently, in 1984, he became a J.D. holder.
Personal Life
Greg Abbott is married to Cecilia Phalen. They have an adopted daughter and the family currently lives in Texas Governor’s mansion.
In 1984, as Abbott was jogging, a tree fell on him making him paraplegic. As a compensation, Abbott received around $10 million.
Career
Law and Judiciary
As Abbott graduated with a law degree, he entered Butler and Binion as a private law practitioner. Working in the firm for around 12 years, Abbott joined the District Court as a state trial judge. Subsequently, he was promoted to take office at the Texas Supreme Court under Governor Bush administration. To hold the office for two consecutive terms. Abbott successfully defeated Libertarian opponent John Hawley with 84% votes in 1996 and Democrat opponent David Os with 60% votes in 1998. Leaving the firm in 2001, he joined Bracewell & Giuliani LLC.
Greg Abbott climbed another stair of his judiciary career in 2002 when he decided to run for the vacant post of Texas Attorney General. He won the election against Democrat Kirk Watson with 57% votes in favor and took office on December 2, 2002. Finishing the first four-year term, Abbott bade for a re-election. He again won the election against Democrat candidate David Van Os with 60% votes. Likewise, Greg won a third term in Attorney General’s office by defeating Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky with 64% votes.
As Governor
Being a law practitioner for his entire life, Greg Abbott decided to run for the position of Governor of Texas in the 2010 Gubernatorial election. As a result, he won the Republican nomination with an absolute majority of 91.48% votes against other Republican colleagues: Lisa Fritsch, Miriam Matinez and Larry Kilgore. In the general election, Abbott defeated the Democratic nominee Wendy Davis with 59.3% – 38.9% margin. Consequently, Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott assumed Governor’s office on January 20, 2015 as the successor of Rick Perry. As Abbott will finish his tenure in 2018, he is already preparing to bid for a second term. Reportedly, he has already raised more than $34 million for the 2018 Texas Gubernatorial Election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nr2CfilPL0
Greg Abbott has already spent two years at his office as Texas Governor. In February 2015, he declared February 2 as the ‘Chris Kyle Day’ to commemorate the deadliest ever US Navy SEAL sniper. Likewise, he signed bills to allow carrying handguns in locations that comply with concealed carry. Greg Abbott has repeatedly called for a reduction in federal interferences on state matters saying ‘We the people have to take the lead to restore the rule of law in the US.’
Donald Trump and Greg Abbott
As Abbott said after President Donald Trump’s win on November 8, Trump win puts Texas in a much stronger position than before. He added, “There’s great similarity between what President-elect Trump stands for and will be working to achieve and what Texans will be working to achieve.” As per his other statements, it’s also clear that Abbott completely supports Trump’s proposal of building a wall between the US and Mexico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEANAGvSEMs
