Ask the Expert: Second in a series
Each state has a governor, but not all governors are equal. The Texas governor typically ranks around 44th in power, according to Clyde Barrow, a professor and chair of UTRGV’s Department of Political Science.
The office has little influence over the state budget, and since Texas utilizes a plural executive, many offices, which would be appointed in other states, are elected in ours. These factors diminish the governor’s power. Despite this, the office of governor can be influential within Texas.
“Really, his main source of influence is the fact that he’s governor, and he gets a lot of press coverage, and so he can try to use that press coverage to set the agenda and to influence others,” Barrow said.
Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke seem to have different approaches to the news media.
“Beto O’Rourke is very good at using social media,” said Carlos Gutierrez, a lecturer in UTRGV’s Department of Political Science. “He has a whole campaign in which he travels from city to city and town to town, but he’s also very good at using social media, which bridges very well with young voters. … He’s also stepping up his spending with TV ads, because he also wants to capture that older generation that’s not maybe on social media but they are watching TV.
“On the other side, Abbott is not as good [at] using social media. He is trying to target possibly older voters. … Both of them have been spending millions in TV ads this last election.”
Barrow and Gutierrez said another way for a governor to gain influence is as a party builder, since most governors are at the head of their parties within their states. A successful governor may eventually have a state legislature that will support his or her policies and laws. Governors serving long enough may also be able to cut deals with those across the party line.
“The longer a governor is in power, the longer he is able to foster relations with different members of the legislature,” Gutierrez said. “He’s able to bridge the divide.”
This is important, because both parties require votes from each other in order to pass legislation. In this sense, the governor can be what Gutierrez calls “a power broker.”
If O’Rourke were to defeat Abbott, who is on his second term, he would have to be careful not to alienate potential allies in both parties, since he is not as established.
There are other ways for Texas governors to exert influence.
Barrow said there is a line-item veto, which allows the governor to “go through the budget and take things out” without rejecting the whole budget. This gives the governor the ability to put pressure on individual politicians.
Although outside line-item veto, the governor’s budget authority is minimal. Neither Abbott nor O’Rourke would have much ability to change the budget.
However, using the power of the governor’s office, they can still strive to serve the people.
Josue Valeriano, a freshman nursing major at UTRGV, said “I want [a governor] to focus on integrity and actually getting things done–not just parading around.”
