Governor Greg Abbott delivered the keynote address at the 2026 Texas Republican Party Convention last week in Houston.
Speaking on Friday, June 12, at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Abbott addressed delegates at the biannual Texas GOP convention, which ran from June 11–13.
“Unity is going to drive victory this November, and no one does a better job than you all at turning out voters,” Abbott said. “Together, we will demolish the Democrats. Together, we are going to win in November. Together, we are going to keep Texas, Texas.”
Abbott described the party’s efforts as a stand against “Bernie Sanders socialism” and linked Democratic opponents, including U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico, to far-left policies. He said those in attendance were key to preventing such ideologies from gaining ground in the state.
In his remarks, the Governor laid out key legislative priorities for the upcoming session. Abbott called for sweeping reforms, including abolishing school district property taxes on homesteads, requiring two-thirds voter approval for any local property tax increases, and lowering the annual appraisal cap from 10% to no more than 3%. He pledged to put Texas on a path toward meaningful property tax elimination while reining in spending. He also voiced strong support for closing Texas primaries to registered Republicans only, a longtime grassroots priority aimed at preventing crossover voting. He also highlighted ongoing successes at the border while calling for further measures to secure sovereignty. Abbott highlighted plans for his campaign to invest at least $25 million in Harris County alone to flip the state’s largest county from blue to red, emphasizing a block-by-block, door-to-door grassroots effort to win up and down the ballot.
Abbott highlighted ongoing border security efforts and called for additional measures. He proposed banning Sharia law in Texas, addressing H-1B visa usage, and placing guardrails on large AI data center developments to protect the power grid and local communities.
The speech ended with a live elephant named Paige walking through the convention floor, and wearing a banner reinforcing the Governor’s message–unity drives victory, drawing reactions from delegates.