Paxton does not mention abortion in his recent ads against Garza, though he’s trumpeted his anti-abortion litigation in the past. (Paxton did not respond to a request for comment.) His anti-abortion actions have not gone unnoticed by those who support him. Joe Pojman, the executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, told me that Garza would be a “disaster on the life issue, and I don’t think she is committed to defending the laws of the state of Texas.” He also noted that, especially after Kansas, “we cannot allow our voters to be complacent. We can take nothing for granted.”
When Garza campaigns across Texas — she has visited cities such as Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, border towns like Del Rio and Alamo, and more conservative areas including Waxahachie and Hunt County, according to a campaign list — she talks openly about abortion. She frames it as a matter of gender equity but also focuses on pregnant people whose health is at risk, a point that could appeal to conservative-leaning women who might oppose abortion in other cases. Paxton’s policies, she tells voters, not only limit reproductive freedom — they could kill you. (Garza was leading Paxton among likely women voters by five points, according to a University of Houston/Texas Southern University poll, though the Texas Politics Project poll found Paxton ahead by four.)