TYLER, Texas — Gov. Greg Abbott is on a mission to "keep Texas red."
On Tuesday, he visited the Rose City for the first time since he signed SB1 in early Sept.
"People are excited about the election," Gov. Abbott said. "They're excited about how Texas is doing."
Exactly one year ago, with record levels of snow on the ground, Texans struggled to recover. This year, Gov. Abbott spoke to concerns about this ever happening again.
"The Texas power grid has never been stronger than it is right now because I signed 14 laws that increased power generation capacity by 15%," he said.
The governor's message to voters ahead of the primaries is economic development is surging and he's confident republicans will sweep Texas in the primary election.
"The future of Texas will be tied to the percentage of voter turnout we're able to achieve in counties like Smith County, we need you to stand in the gap to protect the future of Texas and the United States of America," Gov. Abbott said.
In the latest Dallas Morning News and UT Tyler poll, Gov. Abbott is leading with 47% to Beto O'Rourke's 36%. Sixteen percent said they will vote for someone else and 1% is not sure.
Smith County Republican Party Chairman David Stein said so far, voter turn out is low.
"The first day, there was only about 1,195 votes cast in Smith County so that's a little lighter than I would like to see for an election this important," Stein said.
Early voting continues until Feb. 25.