AUSTIN — High stakes over Hispanic voters shifted the governor’s race Thursday to the Texas-Mexico border, where Democrats defended Wendy Davis’ humbling losses in party strongholds to an obscure primary challenger who barely campaigned.
Republican Greg Abbott, who still fared worse than Davis in border counties despite her lackluster numbers, wouldn’t comment on his rival. He instead announced a goal this November to break the record for Hispanic support by a Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate, widely considered to have been set by George W. Bush in 1998.