Governor Issues Alarming Plea for Cash
with First Warning on Potential Dem Wave
Capitol Inside
February 11, 2026
Governor Gives Republicans
Chance to Show Support for
ICE Agents or Stay Silent
Governor Greg Abbott sent out a "flash poll" reminder in an email on Monday as a way for GOP loyalists to show their support for embattled ICE agents.
Employing a pressure tactic that President Donald Trump uses frequently, Abbott fired off a link to the poll to supporters who hadn't taken the time yet to express their support for the federal immigration enforcement police.
"We launched a FLASH POLL to show our brave ICE officers, who are increasingly facing attacks, that there are countless patriots across the country who still have their backs. I really thought you’d be one of them," the Abbott email explained.
"It looks like you haven’t responded, so I’m asking again because it’s that important," the campaign added. "Please take just 60 seconds to complete this flash poll and share if you still support ICE."
The governor's message appears to imply that those who did not participate in the poll are against ICE or simply do not care any longer.
But the timing of the Abbott pitch for ICE may not have been that good based on an NBC News story on Tuesday about Trump's polling numbers tumbling on the issue of immigration enforcement.
"Your voice will drown out the Hollywood elites and mainstream media who are working overtime to undermine the work that ICE officers are doing to remove criminals from our communities and keep Americans safe," the campaign said.
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott delivered a "gut-punch reality check" to the party faithful on Tuesday with his first public acknowledgement that a blue wave could be in the making in the shell-shocked aftermath of the Democrats' epic win in a special state Senate election he'd promised that the Republican he backed would win.
Abbott's campaign issued the urgent call to arms in a fundraising email that the El Paso Times described in a story on Tuesday night just hours before the city's airport was closed suddenly early Wednesday morning amid conflicting reports from federal officials who pinned the blame at first on an alleged cartel drone. The FAA lifted the order that shut the airport down for several hours in a move that sparked chaos and turmoil before appearing to be a false alarm.
Republicans will be hoping that the on-again, off-again closure of the airport in the sixth-largest Texas city is not another possible omen for the fall when Abbott and other members of the party's statewide slate could be in real trouble for the first time in two dozen years of GOP rule in the Lone Star State.
The party's majority in the Texas House appears to be in reach now for Democrats who would take the chamber back with a net-gain of 14 seats - a feat that would be no more surprising at this point than Taylor Rehmet's 14-point runoff victory in a state Senate district President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024.
With Trump's poll numbers at record lows and falling even more, the Republicans could see their visions of a five-seat gain here in Congress shattered on a new Texas map where they could be doing good to break even if they don't find a way to stop the bleeding before the point of no return.
The Abbott re-election campaign eschewed an attempt to go into details on why the governor of the largest red state would be so worried about an upcoming election as someone who'd never lost one himself. Abbott's camp told prospective contributors that "history is working against Republicans as the party in power" in a midterm election.
"This isn’t just politics," the Texas leader warned. "This is about our future and our freedoms."
But the Abbott campaign - passing on the chance to name Trump as the chief culprit for the scary situation Republicans find themselves in - said the Texas House Democrats "posted record-shattering fundraising numbers" in 2025 and "outraising Republicans by huge margins" in many of the most critical races around the country.
"Democrat voter enthusiasm is surging – they’re motivated, angry, and ready to swarm the polls," the Abbott team said in the email solicitation.
Republicans have attributed Leigh Wambsganss' poor showing in the special Senate District 9 runoff in Tarrant County to a low turnout as a product of complacency among GOP base voters. But they've offered few if any explanations for the wipeout after learning that the turnout for the overtime election in SD 9 had been higher than it had been for any special Senate runoff in modern times.
Abbott's claims of historic fundraising efforts by the Democrats didn't apply to the special Tarrant election on January 31 - however - in a district where Wambsganss had a war chest that was five times the size of the sum the winning Democrat amassed for the contest. The Republicans have raised vast amounts more than Democrats for Texas House races in the 2026 election cycle up to now.
more to come ...
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