Rice political scientist available to discuss Abbott’s $43.3M war chest and what it means for 2018 elections

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David Ruth
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Rice political scientist available to discuss Abbott’s $43.3M war chest and what it means for 2018 elections

HOUSTON – (Jan. 11, 2018) – Amid news reports that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has amassed an astonishing $43.3 million in his campaign war chest, Rice University political scientist Mark Jones is available to discuss what this means for other Texas politicians looking to defend themselves in the upcoming 2018 election.

“With 11 months of fundraising to go in the 2018 electoral cycle, Gov. Abbott’s $43.3 million campaign war chest indicates two things,” Jones said. “One, even though Gov. Abbott did not draw a top-tier Democratic challenger, he is still going to run a first-class professional campaign with the optimal goal of matching — if not surpassing — his 20-point margin of victory over Wendy Davis in 2014. Two, it means that Gov. Abbott will have all the money he needs to fund this over-the-top campaign effort.”

Jones said the money will come in handy as Abbott seeks to identify and mobilize likely GOP voters in Texas and burnish the Republican Party brand in the Lone Star State.

“As is the case nationwide, President Trump represents a millstone around the necks of Republican candidates here in Texas, making some of them susceptible to the blue wave that is sweeping the country,” Jones said. “The efforts by Gov. Abbott’s campaign will represent a lifeline to many Republicans facing credible Democratic challenges and should help numerous Republicans avoid being swept out of office by an anti-Trump blue wave.”

Jones, the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American Studies and professor of political science in Rice’s School of Social Sciences, is also a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. He is a leading expert on Texas politics and a frequent contributor to Texas media outlets. His research on the Texas Legislature has been cited widely in the media as well as by numerous political campaigns.

To schedule an interview with Jones, contact him directly at 832-466-6535.

Rice University has a VideoLink ReadyCam TV interview studio. ReadyCam is capable of transmitting broadcast-quality standard-definition and high-definition video directly to all news media organizations around the world 24/7.

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Related materials:

Mark Jones biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/mark-p-jones/

Mark Jones Twitter handle: @MarkPJonesTX

Mark Jones headshot: http://news.rice.edu/files/2014/09/mark-jones.jpg

Photo credit: Rice University.

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