Greg Abbott campaigns with Chuck Norris, left, in Dallas at Sonny Bryan's on Inwood Road on the final day of the gubernatorial campaign. (David Woo)
Greg Abbott on Monday urged Republicans voters to avoid complacency and show up in the rain, if necessary, to help him become Texas’ next governor.
“We have two challenges over the next 24 hours. One challenge is going to be rain,” Abbott said. “Do not let that dampen your spirit. We need every last vote in this election.”
Abbott is favored to win Tuesday’s election for governor against Democrat Wendy Davis. He leads the state senator from Fort Worth in every poll. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, and the last Democrat to be elected governor was Ann Richards in 1990.
Davis on Monday was campaigning in Austin, San Antonio and Houston.
Abbott, the attorney general of GOP nominee for governor, said the other challenge for Republicans was standing up to the Democrats’ vaunted voter turnout machine.
He said his rivals were trying to bring President Barack Obama’s agenda to Texas, and it was up to voters to stop them.
“Barack Obama’s campaign operatives have come here with one thing in mind, and that is to destroy the values and principles that have led Texas to be the best state in the United States of America,” Abbott said.
He added that he was proud of his campaign, and would be happy if he only won by one vote.
“We need to keep up and beat that machine,” he said. “We’ve gone 99 yards. We’re at the one-yard line. We have to cross the goal line together tomorrow.”
Abbott was joined at Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse in Dallas by actor Chuck Norris, who said he was the best choice to lead Texas.
The attorney general joked that Norris was critical to his plan to secure Texas’ southern border.
“Today I am amending that vision with a two-word platform to insure we do a better job of securing that border,” Abbott said. “Those two words are Chuck Norris…No one crosses Chuck Norris.”
Abbott, who grew up in Duncanville, said he was having fun during the final stretch of the campaign.
“There’s no better way to finish the campaign than back where I grew up,” he said. “In quintessential Texas fashion, there’s no better way to end a campaign morning than in a barbecue restaurant.”