HOUSTON — Republican incumbent Governor Greg Abbott and his Democratic challenger Beto O’rourke are attempting to navigate through major issues to secure victory in November.
From immigration problems to issues facing ERCOT and the reliability of the power grid, voters are faced with a tough decision in the upcoming governor election.
Both candidates are doing their best to not fall off course as the race for governor ratchets up and day-to-day issues are pushed to the forefront.
“It’s a scary situation,” one Houstonian said about the uncertainty surrounding the reliability of the Texas power grid.
It’s an issue that is at the top of some Houstonians’ minds and they want a solution.
"This thing needs to get fixed I mean we’re just going to get hotter and hotter summers," Kel Froelich said.
But some are a little less concerned about the grid.
"I’m not worried about it, okay,” said Tony Eckhard as Texans face record heat this summer.
Abbott and O’Rourke, however, are both keeping a close eye on the grid.
Abbott’s campaign released a statement celebrating the power grid holding up.
“Beto O’Rourke's hopes for the Texas grid to fail melted away yesterday when ERCOT achieved a new record for peak energy demand and the grid remained solid,” said Mark Miner, the communications director for Gov. Abbott's campaign.
O’Rourke, who has made promises to fix the grid, fired back.
"Abbott is making us pay an average of $45 more a month on our energy bills for decades to come but still refuses to fix the grid," he said.
“Who gets blamed, it’s all about blame,” said KHOU 11 political expert Bob Stein.
O’Rourke and Abbott are attempting to navigate the next few months without taking major hits.
“What you’re seeing is that the issues like a Uvalde, ERCOT, the border, they can swing and change within days,” Stein said.
Abbott is using border issues to prop up his campaign as he attempts to gin up excitement among his base.
Politically, the Uvalde shooting does not bode well for the Republicans.
“We’ve had these tragedies and they recede in terms of public opinion, every time the Uvalde story is on the front page it doesn’t help the Republicans,” Stein said.