The conventional wisdom among political observers in Texas about this one and only gubernatorial debate was that Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke needed to somehow, someway have a breakthrough against an incumbent governor who—despite taking a drastic rightward lurch and presiding over an increasingly long list of disasters—has proven resilient in the polls. Governor Greg Abbott, meanwhile, had to simply avoid a major blunder.
Now the debate is over and the dynamics of the race are the same as they were before. O’Rourke is consistently trailing in the polls by more than five points, most voters in Texas have made up their minds, and any of those still undecided likely won’t hinge their vote on what they saw (or more likely, didn’t see) this Friday night.
O’Rourke turned in a competent performance, repeatedly pressing the case that Abbott’s governing of Texas has been an unmitigated disaster for seven years—on gun violence, school safety, crime, border security, education, the electric grid, and on and on.
