No debate so far for Texas Governor's race

A call-out for Governor Greg Abbott to take part in a morning debate became a no-show, but the show for Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa went on. Fox 7 Austin's chief political reporter Rudy Kosky joining us from the newsroom with how the event included an attempt to upstage the two leading candidates. Rudy, every day you got something. This was a high mark in this campaign, in my opinion. It was a wild day. Now, look, it began with no one really expected that a real debate in front of the governor's mansion was really going to happen today. Governor Abbott, he was all the way in East Texas today. But even with one of the leading candidates offstage, the event still provided some political theater. The podium next to Democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa was empty Thursday morning. Well, I guess the governor is a no-show. The stage set for Hinojosa's front yard debate included a few unexpected backdrops like these delivery trucks with work crews unloading furniture for an upcoming football tailgate at the governor's mansion. And there was also this rolling billboard organized by the Abbott campaign driven around Hinojosa's debate events and parked next to them. That stand-in displayed claims about Hinojosa's voting record on income tax and other spending reduction bills. Her rebuttal was not exactly a denial, more like a reclassification. These lies are funded by his billionaire donors. It is not true. I've never not once voted to increase property taxes. I only ever voted to decrease property taxes. The votes he's talking about are votes for local control. Abbott intentionally missed this matchup at the mansion because he was in East Texas with local law enforcement officers. He did post on social media why he ignored Hinojosa's debate challenge the most important thing that a governor can do is to show up in communities what voters want to see and hear they want to see their governor in their communities they want to have the ability to ask their governor questions want to go to each of those communities i learned something new i'm a better governor i'm a better governor candidate by talking to those people for those who did show up thursday morning the abbott no show was not only a disappointment but a missed opportunity. No, this isn't a good substitute for a debate. I want to hear Abbott say Abbott's words, hear his defenses, hear his pros and cons. I want to hear Gina defend herself or even attack Abbott. I want to see them engage with each other. Having one talk about one, what he says, what she says, it doesn't actually give me a clear idea of what will our governor be like as governor. But you did have a discovery today, and that's another candidate. Yeah, I have no idea Jen Mack existed. Jen Mack is an independent write-in candidate who tried to fill the podium left open by Abbott. The attempt to upstage Hinojosa was certainly a surprise. Hi. Hi. You came to debate Abbott on his record. Yes. And I came to debate both of you on your record. Oh, I'm sorry. This is a debate for Greg Abbott. Right. But as equal airtime, I don't see me. Governor Abbott described this attempted face-off as political grandstanding. While that may be debatable, it certainly made for good political theater. Yeah, it sure did. All right, let's crunch some numbers here. Governor Abbott, in his four re-election bids, he has debated three of his challengers. Congressman Beto O'Rourke in '22, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez in 2018, and former state Senator Wendy Davis debated her twice in 2014. Alec? Tell you what, man, Rudy, that's every day. Well, I want to go back to that candidate who tried to insert herself into that debate, Jen Mack, that we saw. She's not the only independent write-in candidate for governor. Is that correct? Who else we got in play here? That's right. Let's crunch some more numbers. There are a total of seven candidates, not necessarily on the ballot, but seven candidates total, along with Jen Mack, Abbott, and Hinojosa. There's Libertarian Pat Dixon and three other independent write-in candidates, Edward Giles, Mike Miller, and Jean-Paul Mojo-Shingroff. Alec? Rudy Kosky, thank you.