Texas Governor Greg Abbott Begins Third Term, Says School Safety Is a Priority

Austin (CBSDFW.COM) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick (R) were sworn into office for their third term Tuesday morning. This is Abbott’s third four-year term since winning re-election against Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke last November.

A steady stream of tweets came from the governor’s official Twitter page at the time of his inauguration.

“I am honored to have the trust and support of my fellow Texans as I take the oath of office today as governor,” he began.

Another tweet mentions his campaign promise to secure the Texas-Mexico border.

“In addition, we have our state of Texas and the National Guard with us, who lead the defense of our border. We would not have the freedom to hold inaugurations like this were it not for the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform. Thank you.”

Abbott faced criticism after a 2021 freeze resulted in a full day of power outages; The hurricane killed 246 people, making it one of the worst natural disasters in the state’s history. Then, in May 2022, a gunman opened fire on Robb’s primary school in Uvalda, killing 19 students and two teachers. Abbott initially praised the law enforcement response, but later said he was “misled” by authorities when it became known that police officers had been waiting for over an hour to enter the school.

Abbott also tweeted about school safety.

“Parents need to know that their children will be safe when they drive them to school every morning. We will NOT end this session without making our schools safer.”

Patrick, who is also leader of the Texas Senate, began his third four-year term on Tuesday.