Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson warned that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott could lose reelection to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who has narrowed the gap over the summer in the traditionally red state.
The comment came in Carlson's latest episode of "The Tucker Carlson Show," released Sept. 2, when he spoke with "Breaking Points" host Saagar Enjeti about President Donald Trump's criticism of Republican governors for implementing data center moratoriums across the nation, including Texas.
"Greg Abbott, who let's not pretend he's doing this out of the goodness of his own heart, he dragged kicking and screaming to the data center moratorium," Enjeti said.
Carlson quickly chimed in, saying Abbott is "about to lose that election," to which Enjeti responded,
"He very well may."
"But he signed the data center moratorium, and in it, all he says is, 'Look, we're doing a moratorium; we have to figure out rural land use and water, noise generation, we need to make sure that you don't get certain tax breaks. We just need to make things normal so that when the local community allows the data center to be built, that they reap some of the benefits.'"
Later in the episode, Enjeti and Carlson also weighed in on the overall elections in Texas, including the Texas Senate race, saying the state could swing blue.
"In my bell curve of possibilities, if things go dramatically in one vision, you can see Texas going Democratic," Enjeti said. "You got Abbott and (Ken) Paxton, and there's enough drama there."
Carlson concurred with Enjeti's sentiments.
Texas' new data center standards
On June 10, Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to ensure data centers don't put the financial and resource burden on Texans during their expansion and construction.
The regulations were enforced starting in July; however, after public testimony to state lawmakers that revealed gaps in data the state asked for, Abbott on Aug. 3 paused construction of new data centers as the state conducted a full audit of proposed data centers seeking to connect to the state grid to ensure they comply with Abbott's June directives.
Since the audit and regulations were announced, more than 40 companies, including Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, have publicly said they will comply with Texas' new data center standards.
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, published Aug. 25, showed that a majority of Texans, 57%, opposed building a data center in their community, while only 30% supported it.
Texas senate, governor race polling
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll, published Aug. 25, showed that Abbott leads his Democratic competitor, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, 45% to 40%, with 10% unable to express an opinion on the race.
The polls follow a summer trend,with several showing Hinojosa trailing Abbott by single digits — a notable tightening for a governor who won previous elections by double digits. It has given Democrats hope, as it is the closest they have been to flipping the governorship blue since they last held it in 1995.
In the nationally watched race, a Texas Public Opinion Research Aug. 27 pollshowed Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race by 6 points, 48% to 42%, which is outside the margin of error.
But it remains to be seen if the newer poll is an outlier or the new trend emerging as fall begins, as the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Aug. 25 poll found the two Texas Senate candidates statistically tied — a trend most polls throughout the summer months kept.
Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him at mrosiles@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tucker Carlson says Greg Abbott could lose Texas governor race
