Davis blasts Abbott for not saying if he’d defend ban on interracial marriage

AUSTIN — Greg Abbott, who frequently notes that his role as attorney general is to advocate for state laws, prompted heated debate Monday after wavering on whether he would have opposed bans on interracial marriages.

Democrats quickly criticized his response, while supporters lambasted the question and said Abbott was doing what voters expected.

The GOP candidate for governor was asked the question in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News editorial board. In light of Abbott’s legal defense of the Texas ban on same-sex marriage, he was asked if he might years ago have fought to preserve the law that prohibited black and white Texans from marrying.

Abbott pointed out that such laws were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court decades ago.

“And all I can do is deal with the issues that are before me,” Abbott said. “The job of an attorney general is to represent and defend in court the laws of their client, which is the state Legislature, unless and until a court strikes it down.”

Democratic rival Wendy Davis called the answer “not only disturbing but offensive.”

“In the year 2014, it’s inconceivable Greg Abbott is refusing to say he would not defend a ban on interracial marriage,” said Davis spokesman Zac Petkanas.

Abbott is defending the state’s school finance system against a district judge’s ruling that the Legislature did not meet its constitutional obligation to adequately fund education. He also is defending the state ban on same-sex marriages and the law requiring voters to show state-approved identification in order to vote.

Davis has blasted him for all three, saying that as attorney general, he could settle the schools case and has discretion in the others, too. Abbott said his job is not to impose his beliefs in place of what the Legislature has decreed.

“What kind of state would we live in if the public policies of this state were allowed to be determined by the attorney general?” Abbott said. “The attorney general would have a super-veto over the elected representatives, and that would be a chaotic form of government, contrary to our fundamental constitutional principles.”

Other attorneys general, citing their oath of office to uphold the Constitution, have refused to defend certain policies, laws and judgments.

John Cornyn, now a Republican U.S. senator, as attorney general voluntarily dropped an appeal of a death penalty case and sought a new punishment hearing. He determined he could not defend the punishment meted out to a black defendant after the state presented an expert witness who had testified that blacks are more inclined to violence.

Former Attorney General Jim Mattox, a Democrat, refused to defend a state law that criminalized homosexual conduct. He dropped the appeal of that law.

Republican strategist Craig Murphy called the brouhaha over the interracial marriage question ridiculous, pointing out that Abbott’s wife of more than 30 years is Hispanic.

“It is quite a strange idea that Wendy Davis and the others who are jumping on this think that the AG should substitute his personal opinion for the law,” Murphy said.

The outrage, he said, is that some Democrats suggest a candidate should “substitute his personal opinion whenever he disagrees” with the constitution or the law.

Follow Christy Hoppe on Twitter at @christyhoppe.

AT A GLANCE: Poll in state races

A new poll shows Republican Greg Abbott with a strong lead in the race for governor over Democrat Wendy Davis:

Abbott: 47%

Davis: 32%

In the race for lieutenant governor, more voters are undecided, the poll finds:

Republican Dan Patrick: 36%

Leticia Van de Putte: 24%

Poll of 781 likely voters statewide, conducted Sept. 22-Oct. 15, with an error margin of 3.6 percentage points, meaning results can vary by that much in either direction.

SOURCE: Houston Public Media/KHOU-TV