Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott
Abbott in 2024
48th Governor of Texas
Assumed office
January 20, 2015
LieutenantDan Patrick
Preceded byRick Perry
Chair of the Republican Governors Association
In office
November 21, 2019 – December 9, 2020
Preceded byPete Ricketts
Succeeded byDoug Ducey
50th Attorney General of Texas
In office
December 2, 2002 – January 5, 2015
GovernorRick Perry
Preceded byJohn Cornyn
Succeeded byKen Paxton
Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas
In office
January 2, 1996 – June 6, 2001[1]
Appointed byGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byJack Hightower
Succeeded byXavier Rodriguez
Personal details
Born
Gregory Wayne Abbott

(1957-11-13) November 13, 1957
Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Cecilia Phalen
​
(m. 1981)​
ChildrenAudrey Abbott
ResidenceTexas Governor's Mansion
EducationUniversity of Texas at Austin (BBA)
Vanderbilt University (JD)
Signature

Gregory Wayne Abbott (/æbət/ ABB-ət; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist. He has been the 48th and current governor of Texas since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. From 2002 to 2015, Abbott was the 50th attorney general of Texas.

Early life

Abbott was born on November 13, 1957, in Wichita Falls, Texas, of English descent.[2][3]

In 1981, Abbott earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Young Republicans Club. He met his wife, Cecilia Phalen, while attending UT Austin. The two married in 1981.[4] In 1984, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School.

Abbott went into private practice, working for Butler and Binion, LLP between 1984 and 1992.[5]

On July 14, 1984, at age 26, Abbott was paralyzed below the waist when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging in Houston, after a storm.[6] Two steel rods were put in his spine and he has used a wheelchair ever since.[7][8]

Political career

Abbott was the third Republican to serve as attorney general of Texas since the Reconstruction era. He was elected to that office with 57% of the vote in 2002 and reelected with 60% in 2006 and 64% in 2010, becoming the longest-serving attorney general in state history, with 12 years of service.[9]

As attorney general, he successfully supported the Texas State Capitol to show the Ten Commandments in the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case Van Orden v. Perry, and unsuccessfully defended the state's ban on same-sex marriage.[10] He was also known for going against President Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act.[11]

Abbott was elected governor in 2014. Abbott is the first Texas governor and third governor of a U.S. state to use a wheelchair, the others being Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Wallace.[12][13][14] As governor, Abbott supported the first Donald Trump administration.[15]

During his time as governor, he supported Texas's total abortion ban, making it easier to buy guns, support for law enforcement funding, and election reform.[16]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Abbott was against forcing face mask and vaccine mandates.[17][18] He has also made a priority of fighting illegal immigration, starting Operation Lone Star in 2021.[19]

Greg Abbott asks the highest court in the state of Texas in August 2025, to remove the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives from office, to end the opposition blocking the redrawing of the U.S. House of Representatives maps, requested by President Donald Trump.[20]

References

  1. ↑ "TJB | SC | About the Court | Court History | Justices Since 1945 | Justices, Place 5". txcourts.gov. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Biography of Greg Abbott". Texapedia. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Reid (October 30, 2014). "The likely next governor of Texas is full of Lone Star swagger. Don't be surprised if he runs for president". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Texas Governor Greg Abbott". Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  5. ↑ "oag.state.tx.us". oag.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ Kim, Theodore (May 31, 2010). "Accident set Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on a path toward politics". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 28, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2025.
  7. ↑ Fernandez, Manny. "Candidate Draws Support and Critics for Talk of Disability" July 22, 2013. The New York Times.
  8. ↑ Ackerman, Todd. "Houston rehab giant ready for Giffords." Houston Chronicle. January 20, 2011
  9. ↑ "Texas Governor Greg Abbott". gov.texas.gov. Retrieved 2025-02-21.
  10. ↑ "Texas governor signs anti-LGBT 'religious freedom' adoption bill". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. June 15, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  11. ↑ Davenport, Coral; Davis, Julie Hirschfeld (August 3, 2015). "Move to Fight Obama's Climate Plan Started Early". The New York Times. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Greg Abbott's election in Texas opens possibilities for disabled". USA Today. November 5, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Greg Abbott and the new politics of disability". Austin American-Statesman. September 24, 2016. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  14. ↑ Root, Jay (5 November 2014). "Abbott Crushes Davis in GOP Sweep". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  15. ↑ Bidgood, Jess (November 18, 2024). "The Governor Who Helped Trump Get Elected". The New York Times. J. David Goodman, Keith Collins, Edgar Sandoval and Jeremy White — documented how the buses Abbott deployed from April 2022 to June of this year sent thousands of migrants from Texas to a number of cities: more than 40,000 to New York, 33,700 to Chicago and 17,500 to Denver.
  16. ↑ Schreiber, Melody (September 22, 2021). "New Texas law bans abortion-inducing drugs after seven weeks pregnancy". The Guardian. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ Sheehey, Maeve (July 28, 2021). "Abbott aims to restrict immigrant travel through Texas, citing rising Covid-19 infections". Politico. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  18. ↑ Dima, Jake (July 28, 2021). "Texas Gov. Abbott clamps down on migrant transports to stop COVID-19 spread in communities". Washington Examiner. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  19. ↑ Barragán, James (September 17, 2021). "Bill tripling Texas' border security budget and allocating $750 million to wall construction becomes law". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  20. ↑ Vertuno, Jim (August, 2025). "Texas governor asks court to remove House Democratic leader from office over walkout". Associated Press. Retrieved August 06, 2025. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= and |date= (help)

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