McConaughey leads Abbott in Texas poll as O'Rourke inches closer https://news.yahoo.com/mcconaughey-leads-abbott-texas-poll-143114002.html Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) may be feeling the pressure, the latest poll from The Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler shows. Abbott's approval rating has dropped to 45 percent in the aftermath of controversial legislation such as a ban on mask mandates amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a ban on most abortions after six weeks. It's far too early to tell how things will play out in next year's election, but two well-known potential candidates look like they could give Abbott a serious run if they do wind up entering the race. Actor Matthew McConaughey, who has hinted that he's entertaining the idea (though it's unclear what party, if any, he would represent), led Abbott by nine points in a hypothetical matchup in the new poll, while former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Tex.), who ran against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) for a spot in the upper chamber and later took a shot at the Democratic presidential nomination, cut a previous 12-point head-to-head deficit against Abbott down to five in the survey. Abbott does have a more comfortable lead against Republican primary challengers, however. The Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler poll was conducted between Sept. 7-14 among 1,148 registered voters. The margin of error is 2.9 percentage points. Read more at The Dallas Morning News.
Texas surpasses 4 million COVID-19 cases threshold https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/574063-texas-surpasses-4-million-covid-19-cases-threshold Texas on Sunday exceeded 4 million COVID-19 cases, trailing only behind California for most total coronavirus cases in the U.S. Texas leads the country in daily case and hospitalization averages despite those numbers declining in the past two weeks. It is second only to Florida in daily death averages, according to data from The New York Times. (More at above url)
Abbott bringing on more death and misery... Texas Gov. Greg Abbott bans any COVID-19 vaccine mandates — including for private employers Abbott also called on the Legislature to pass a law banning the expanded vaccine mandates. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/11/texas-greg-abbott-covid-19-vaccine-mandate/ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday issued another executive order cracking down on COVID-19 vaccine mandates — this time banning any entity in Texas, including private businesses, from requiring vaccinations for employees or customers. Abbott also called on the Legislature to pass a law with the same effect. The Legislature is in its third special legislative session, which ends Oct. 19. COVID-19 vaccine requirements by government agencies, cities, counties and school districts were already banned by a previous executive order — which is currently being fought in court by the San Antonio Independent School District. The Legislature also already passed into law a ban on so-called vaccine passports — which would allow businesses to require proof of vaccination to receive service. However, Texas had up to this point allowed private businesses to require vaccines of their own employees. The latest move appears to be partly motivated by President Joe Biden's actions in September that require all employers with more than 100 workers to mandate vaccines for workers or test weekly for the virus. Biden also required all federal government workers and contractors to get vaccinated, leading nearly all the major airlines — including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines headquartered in Texas — to announce they'd abide by the mandate. "In yet another instance of federal government overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas's continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster," Abbott said in his order. About 52% of Texans are fully vaccinated. Abbott was vaccinated on TV and has previously advocated for people to get the shot. But in recent months — as the delta variant caused another upswing in cases and hospitalizations — he has concentrated his political capital toward fighting vaccine and mask mandates from local school districts and governments.
Tis’ hard for an Okie to admit it but Dam’n at times I love Texas. Specially since my Sooners beat Texas last weekend. BOOMER!