Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American attorney who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since January 20, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the third governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair. He is also the first disabled governor in Texas history.
Celia Israel runs for Austin mayor
Celia Israel Long-time legislator plans to use creative solutions to tackle difficult problems in her city DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writertaffet@dallasvoice.com Seven candidates have filed to run for Austin mayor, but the race is coming down to just two of them — Kirk Watson and Celia Israel.
Watson is a former Austin mayor and former state senator who ran for attorney general in 2002 but was defeated by Greg Abbott.
Israel has been a state representative since 2014 and was a founder of the House LGBT Caucus. Though both are Democrats running in a non-partisan race, Israel is quick to distance herself from her opponent: “Watson is running a status quo, Chamber of Commerce, good ol’ boy race,” Israel said.
Israel said deciding to run was a difficult decision for her. Popular in her north Austin district, she could have easily retained her seat in the state House and continued to be one of the loudest voices there standing up for trans kids.
