Texas governor's race: Abbott and O'Rourke take to the airwaves - Axios AustinLog InLog InAxios Austin is an Axios company.

Beto v Abbott heads into final turn as Texas election nears

The Texas governor's race is now approaching the final turn — and the candidates have headed to the airwaves to attack each other. Driving the news: Election Day is exactly two months away. State of play: Polls in the last month or so give Gov. Greg Abbott a - to -point advantage over Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke. Yes, but: Even as Dems face strong national headwinds in a down economy, the overturning of Roe v. Wade . Still: The Republican voting base has been larger.In the March primary — before the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision — 1.95 million Republicans and 1.08 million Democrats turned out to vote, . The intrigue: Following an illness that sent him home to El Paso, O'Rourke has been, wrapping up a 49-day tour today with a stop in Lockhart.Abbott, meanwhile, appears to have had a lighter summer campaign schedule. By the numbers: Texans for Greg Abbott had just over $45 million in cash available at the end of June, per the latest campaign finance filings — Beto for Texas had $23.9 million in cash. What's happening: The campaign is now being waged on the airwaves, as both candidates burn through the tens of millions of dollars they have raised to stir voters.Abbott is — and has enlisted his wife, Cecilia, to narrate an ad about.O'Rourke is striking back with ads on and. Between the lines: Abbott is trying to turn out suburban men, to blunt potential losses among suburban women.O'Rourke is driving home his message among women — and, returning to a strategy that nearly led to a 2018 upset of incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, is holding rallies in rural areas of the state he has little hope of winning, as an effort to trim Abbott's vote-getting. What we're watching: The candidates have agreed to meet for a debate Sept. 30 in the Rio Grande Valley.O'Rourke wants more debates — but this is the only one Abbott has agreed to, on a Friday night in competition with high school football. Get more local stories in your inbox with .Subscribe Support local journalism by becoming a member.

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