An American attorney and politician, Greg Abbott is serving as the 48th and current governor of Texas since 2015. He has also served as 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the third governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair. He completed his J.D. at Vanderbilt University and worked as an attorney after earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, took office in January of 2015. After serving as an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and as Texas’ fiftieth Attorney General, this Republican Party politician was elected Governor of Texas. Greg was involved in the “Van Orden v. Perry U.S”. Supreme Court case that established Texas’ right to post the Ten Commandments outside the State Capitol. Besides, he was also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law. As recent news, Abbott is gambling with the health of his state and beyond.
Famous For
- Being an American attorney and politician.
- For serving as the 48th and current governor of Texas since 2015.
Source: @instagram.com/governorabbott
What is the Birthplace of Greg Abbott?
On 13th November 1957, Greg Abbott opened his eyes for the first time as Gregory Wayne Abbott in Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S. His current residence is in Governor’s Mansion which lies in Austin, Texas. As he took birth in America, he holds an American nationality and his ethnic background is American-white. Similarly, his religion is Roman Catholic and his race is white. Back in 2020, he celebrated his birthday which makes him the present age of 63 and he will next be celebrating his 64th birthday as of 2021 on 13th November. Scorpio is his horoscope. His mother, Doris Lechristia Jacks Abbott, was a stay-at-home wife and his father, Calvin Rodger Abbott, was a stockbroker and insurance agent. Sadly, his father died of a heart attack in his sophomore year in high school; his mother went to work in a real estate office. He has one sibling a brother named, Gary Abbott. Moving to his education, he graduated from Duncanville High School. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Young Republicans Club.
How was the Career of Greg Abbott?
Judicial Career
- Greg Abbott kicks off his judicial career serving as a state trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years after which he was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court; he was then twice elected to the state’s highest civil court in 1996 (two-year term) and in 1998 (six-year term).
- He defeated Hawley by a margin of 84 percent to 16 percent in 1996 as well as he defeated Democrat David Van Os by 60 percent to 40 percent in 1998.
- Later, he resigned from the Supreme Court in 2001 and went back to private practice and worked for Bracewell & Giuliani LLC.
Attorney General of Texas
- The reason behind resigning Greg from the Supreme Court in 2001 was to seek the position of Lieutenant Governor of Texas. He defeated the Democratic nominee, former Austin mayor, and former state senator Kirk Watson, 57 percent to 41 percent.
- Abbott filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano in three federal lawsuits against the hospital in March 2014.
- As well, he established a unit in the AG’s office to pursue voter-fraud prosecutions as Texas AG in the late 2000s, using a $1.4 million federal grant; the unit prosecuted a few dozen cases, resulting “in small fines and little or no jail time.”
- Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG on 21st December 2005. Sony settled the Texas lawsuit, as well as a similar lawsuit brought by the California Attorney General, for $1.5 million.
- He delivered an oral argument before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Texas in March 2005, defending a Ten Commandments monument on grounds of the Texas State Capitol. Greg also argued against a lawsuit brought by the National Rifle Association to allow more people access to concealed carry of firearms in February 2014, as he felt this would disrupt public safety.
- He unsuccessfully defended Texas’s ban on sex toys as well as defended the state’s ban on same-sex marriage from a constitutional challenge as Attorney General. He also argued that gay individuals can marry individuals of the opposite sex, thus there is no discrimination against LGBT individuals.
- He was challenged by civil rights attorney David Van Os on 7th November 2006 however luckily, he won re-election to a second term by a margin of 60 percent to 37 percent.
- Greg also defeated the Democratic attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky of Houston by a margin of 64 percent to 34 percent for a third term in 2010. He was the longest-serving Texas attorney general in Texas history.
Source: @dallasnews
Governor of Texas
- Abbott announced his intention to run for Governor of Texas in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election. He won the Republican primary on 4th March 2014, with 91.5 percent of the ballots cast. He faced state senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth in the general election whereas he also defeated Davis by about 19 percentage points in the November general election.
- He stated during the weekend of 21st January 2017 that he was intending on running for re-election which he confirmed on 28th March 2017. However, he formally announced his re-election campaign on 14th July 2017.
- In the 6th November general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Lupe Valdez with about 56 percent of the vote, out-raising her 18-to-1. He received 42 percent of the Hispanic vote and 16 percent of African Americans.
- He signed a bill allowing for more armed teachers with school districts being unrestricted as to the number they allow in June 2019.
- Abbott made Texas the first state to decline refugee resettlement under a new rule implemented by the Trump administration in January 2020. The move was condemned in a joint statement by all 16 Catholic bishops of Texas.
- Also, he declared that each Texas county could only have one location where voters could drop off their early voting ballots in September 2020.
COVID-19 pandemic
- Greg implemented a stay-at-home order from 2nd April to 1st May 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas he directed counties with more than 20 coronavirus cases to wear masks in public places in July 2020; he had previously prohibited local governments from implementing required face masks.
- He directed restaurants in Texas to ignore local curfews that had been implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in December 2020.
- Abbott lifted all COVID-19 restrictions in Texas as Texas earned the distinction of being the first city in the United States to record every major strain of COVID-19.
February 2021 North American ice storm
- During the 13th to 17th February 2021 North American winter storm, power plants across Texas broke down leaving 4 million households in Texas without power. Abbott called for investigation and reform of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the electric grid operator for Texas.
- As a guest on “Hannity”, Abbott stated on 16th February, “This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America … Our wind and our solar got shut down, and they were collected more than 10 percent of our power grid and that thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power on a statewide basis. … It just shows that fossil fuel is necessary.”
- He had ordered Texas natural gas to sell exclusively to power generators in Texas, which had an immediate and direct impact on Mexico by 18th February.
- Furthermore, as a piece of fresh news, Abbott’s announcement Tuesday that he was fully reopening Texas capped a nearly yearlong stretch of the most intraparty dissent he has seen in his time as governor.
- On Tuesday, Abbott made his starkest move yet to answer his pandemic-era Republican critics, announcing he was ending the statewide mask mandate and letting all businesses reopen at 100% capacity. In doing so, he thrust himself into a national GOP fervor over governors who have been on the vanguard of reopening their states, a quality that is already shaping the nascent field for the 2024 presidential race.
- Greg was clearly enthused to make a splash Tuesday. He first teased the announcement Thursday, saying it was coming “pretty soon.” On Monday afternoon, his office advised a “statewide announcement” the next day in Lubbock. On Monday night, he tweeted that he was preparing to deliver “exciting news.” And 15 minutes before the event Tuesday afternoon, he told his followers to “get ready.”
- After the announcement, Abbott said in a radio interview he wanted to make it even sooner – the start of last week – but decided to hold off until the coronavirus vaccine distribution process could bounce back from disruptions due to the winter weather crisis.
Who is Greg Abbott married to?
Source: @instagram.com/governorabbott
Greg Abbott is a married guy. He tied a knot with Cecilia Phalen Abbott with whom he was in a relationship for a long time. The couple was married in San Antonio in 1981 and they have one adopted daughter, Audrey. Cecilia is a former school teacher and principal whereas she is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. Concerning Greg’s sexual orientation, he is straight.
Source: @instagram.com/governorabbott
How much is Greg Abbott Net Worth?
Greg Abbott is an American attorney and politician who has a net worth of around $1 million to $5 million as of 2021 however his exact amount of salary is unknown. Previously, Abbott and his wife Cecilia earned a gross income of $134,000, almost exclusively from his state salary as then-attorney general. But because of losses from investments and large deductions, the Abbotts paid $104 total in federal income taxes. They are due a refund of $19,390. In January 2017, Abbott was reportedly raising funds for a 2018 re-election bid as governor; as of December 2016, he had $34.4 million on hand for his campaign, of which he raised $9 million during the second half of 2016. He received $1.4 million in campaign contributions from recipients of the Texas Enterprise Fund. As of August 2013, the monthly payment amount was US$14,000. Before becoming governor, Abbott subsequently backed legislation in Texas that limits “punitive damages stemming from noneconomic losses” and “noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases”, at $750,000 and $250,000, respectively. In addition, Greg’s major source of income is from his political career.
How tall is Greg Abbott?
5 feet and 8 inches tall American attorney and politician, Greg Abbott weighs around 70 kg. He has blonde hair and dark brown eyes color whereas his body build is average. However, his body measurements have not been disclosed yet. Moreover, Abbott suffered second-and third-degree burns on his legs after coming in contact with scalding water while on vacation in Wyoming in July 2016, which caused him to miss the 2016 Republican National Convention. Back on 14th July 1984, at the age of 26, he was paralyzed below the waist when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging following a storm. He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since. He sued the homeowner and a tree service company, resulting in an insurance settlement that provides him with lump-sum payments every three years until 2022 along with monthly payments for life; both are adjusted “to keep up with the rising cost of living”.
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