Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media
Gov. Greg Abbott speaking at a campaign event at the Houston Police Officers’ Union, Jan. 8, 2026.
Gov. Greg Abbott was in Houston on Thursday afternoon to mark his latest endorsement for reelection, this one from the Texas Municipal Police Association. The organization represents over 30,000 officers across the state.
The event took place at the headquarters of the Houston Police Officers’ Union, which had endorsed Abbott the day before. The Republican governor largely used the event to highlight his record of supporting law enforcement as he seeks a record fourth term in this year’s election.
Abbott pointed to recent policy accomplishments, such as mandatory bail denial for people charged with 10 of the most serious felonies and efforts to halt the flow of fentanyl into the state across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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“Law enforcement in Texas has seized more than enough fentanyl to kill every man, woman and child in the United States, Mexico, and Canada combined,” Abbott said. “And we’ve seen tangible results from an effort, because we’ve seen a 40% reduction in deaths because of fentanyl thanks to this law enforcement effort by these law enforcement officers.”
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The governor also leaned into recent efforts to ramp up enforcement of immigration laws. He made no comment on the fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis this week by an ICE agent, which sparked protests in Houston and across the U.S., though he did refer to the city as one of several that was paying a price for efforts to cut funding to law enforcement.
Abbott also laid out some of his future priorities for law enforcement, saying that public safety required constant vigilance and efforts to improve.
“I want to ensure that we weld shut the revolving door of easy bail for dangerous criminals,” Abbott said. “I want to hold rogue district attorneys accountable by establishing a statewide prosecutor. I want to keep dangerous criminals behind bars and protect sensitive information in law enforcement officers’ personnel files from disclosure that could expose those officers to danger, and we must maintain our ongoing efforts to ensure that Texas leads the country in securing our border.”
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On the question of establishing a statewide prosecutor, Abbott specified he wanted the office to be able to charge people accused of serious crimes if local district attorneys failed to do so in a sufficient period of time. The governor said such an office would likely focus on individuals accused of one of the felonies for which judges are required to deny bail, under legislation passed last year.
“If a prosecutor refuses to bring an indictment to prosecute one of those dangerous criminals within a certain time period, let’s say 60 days, then the state prosecutor would have the option to prosecute that case,” Abbott said.
Abbott is facing several challengers in the Republican primary election in March. Austin state Rep. Gina Hinojosa leads the Democratic field of candidates for governor.