Abbott to rally voters at Lost Pizza in Texarkana the day before Election Day
TEXARKANA, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a get-out-the-vote event at Lost Pizza Co. in Texarkana at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2, the day before Election Day, his campaign announced.
The event is at the restaurant at 4206 Gibson Lane. It is free and family-friendly, and food and light refreshments will be served, according to the campaign’s invitation. The campaign is asking those who plan to attend to RSVP online.
Abbott will be joined by Chris Spencer, the Republican nominee for Texas House District 1, “along with other local leaders,” the invitation says. It says the governor will talk about “the importance of this election and what you can do to ensure Texas remains red for generations to come.”
Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term, faces Democrat Gina Hinojosa, a state representative from Austin, and Libertarian Pat Dixon on the Nov. 3 ballot. A University of Houston Hobby School poll of 2,000 likely voters, taken Oct. 10-14 and released Oct. 21, had Abbott at 49% and Hinojosa at 46%, with a margin of error of 2.19 percentage points.
The campaign has billed Abbott’s late-October stops as a “Let’s Roll” get-out-the-vote tour. On Monday, Oct. 26, he held events in Abilene and Wichita Falls, where he was joined by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. “Every Republican must vote to defend Texas from the radicals who want to shove our state to the left,” Abbott said in Wichita Falls, according to his campaign. He is scheduled to be in Inez and Harlingen on Tuesday.
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Hinojosa has campaigned on public school funding, opposition to private school vouchers and a moratorium on new data centers, according to The Texas Tribune.
Third Texarkana-area stop this year
Monday’s event will be at least Abbott’s third campaign appearance in the Texarkana area this year, and Spencer has been at his side for each.
In February, during early voting for the Republican primary, Abbott, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, agriculture commissioner candidate Nate Sheets and state Sen. Bryan Hughes campaigned for Spencer at Texas Chuck Wagon in Nash. On Sept. 24, Abbott held a rural affordability roundtable at Miller Bowie Supply in Texarkana with Hughes and Spencer, where the discussion covered water use and the cost of living, according to his campaign.
In his last re-election campaign, Abbott spoke to about 350 people at Big Jake’s BBQ on Richmond Road on Nov. 2, 2022.
The House District 1 race
Spencer, who won the March Republican primary over Josh Bray, faces Democrat Sean Huffman in the race for the open House District 1 seat, which covers Bowie, Cass, Lamar, Morris and Red River counties.
Former Rep. Gary VanDeaver, a New Boston Republican, did not seek a seventh term and resigned Sept. 21 to become executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards. Abbott backed Spencer against VanDeaver in the 2024 Republican primary over VanDeaver’s opposition to school vouchers. VanDeaver won that runoff with 53% of the vote.
Voting
Early voting in Texas ends Friday, Oct. 30, so Monday’s event falls between the close of early voting and Election Day. Bowie County early voting was running about 27% ahead of the 2022 midterm after the first five days.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Bowie County voters can cast ballots at any of the county’s 20 countywide polling places. Locations, ID requirements and sample ballots are in TXK Today’s voting guide for the Nov. 3 election.
In Miller County, Arkansas, early voting continues through 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at the American Legion, 525 E. Broad St.