Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott
50th Attorney General of Texas
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2, 2002
Governor	Rick Perry
Preceded by	John Cornyn
Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office 1995 - 2001
Preceded by	Jack Hightower
Personal details
Born	Gregory Wayne Abbott (1957-11-13) November 13, 1957 Wichita Falls, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Cecilia Phalen (1982–present)
Children	Audrey (adopted)[1]
Alma mater	University of Texas, Austin Vanderbilt University
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	Official website

Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott^[2] (born November 13, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician. He is the 50th Attorney General of Texas, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, Abbott was a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush. He is noted outside the state of Texas for successfully advocating the ability of the state of Texas to display the Ten Commandments in front of the state Capitol in Austin in a 2005 United States Supreme Court case known as Van Orden v. Perry. He is a member of the Republican Party.

He is currently running for Governor of Texas in 2014.

Early life, education, and early law career

Abbott was born on November 13, 1957 in Wichita Falls, Texas and was raised in Duncanville (Dallas County). He graduated from Duncanville High School.^[3]

In 1981, he earned a BBA in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. In 1984, he earned his law degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee.

He went into private practice, working for Butler and Binion, LLC between 1984-1992. Abbott’s political career began in Houston, where he served as a state trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years.

Judicial career

Then Texas Governor George W. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, and he was then twice elected to the state's highest civil court—in 1996 (two-year term) and 1998 (six-year term). In 1996, Abbott had no Democratic opponent but was challenged by Libertarian John B. Hawley of Dallas. Abbott defeated Hawley 84%-16%.^[4] In 1998, Abbott defeated Democrat David Van Os 60%-40%.^[5]

In 2001, he went back to private practice and worked for Bracewell and Patterson, LLC. He was also an adjunct professor at University of Texas School of Law.^[6]

Attorney General of Texas

2002 election

Abbott resigned from the Supreme Court in 2001 to seek the open attorney general's position in 2002. The previous Attorney General John Cornyn vacated the post to run for the U.S. Senate. Abbott defeated the Democratic nominee, former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, 57%-41%.^[7]

Lawsuit against Sony BMG

On November 21, 2005, Abbott sued Sony BMG. Texas is the first state in the nation to bring legal action against Sony BMG for illegal spyware. The suit is also the first filed under the state’s spyware law of 2005. It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they play the CDs, which can compromise the systems.^[8][9] On December 21, 2005 Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG. Abbott says the MediaMax copy protection technology violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws. He says Sony-BMG offered consumers a licensing agreement when they bought CDs and played them on their computers. But, Abbott alleges in the lawsuit that even if consumers reject that agreement, spyware is secretly installed on their computers, which pose security risks for music buyers. Abbott said "We keep discovering additional methods Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music", and "Thousands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game Sony played with consumers for its own purposes." In addition to violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which allows for civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, the alleged violations added in the updated lawsuit, on December 21, 2005, carry maximum penalties of $20,000 per violation.^[10][11]

Van Orden v. Perry

On March 2, 2005, Abbott appeared before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., where he defended a Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds. Dozens of similar monuments were donated to cities and towns across the nation throughout the 1960s by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, who were inspired by the 1956 epic The Ten Commandments; in doing so, they gained the support of the film's director Cecil B. DeMille.^[12] The Supreme Court held in a 5-4 majority opinion, found the Texas display did not violate the Establishment Clause and was constitutional.

2006 election

In the November 7 general election, Abbott was challenged by civil rights attorney David Van Os, who had been his Democratic opponent in the 1998 election for state Supreme Court. He won re-election to a second term 60%-37%.^[13]

2010 election

Abbott ran for an unprecedented third term. Abbott also campaigned for other Republican candidates in 2010 including Jim Landtroop, the Plainview insurance agent. While on his Plainview stop, Abbott cited his and Landtroop's mutual opposition to the health care plan signed into law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama.^[14] He handily defeated the Democratic attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky of Houston and, once again, the Libertarian Jon Roland. Radnofsky was also the unsuccessful Democratic candidate opposing U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2006 general election. Abbott defeated Radnofsky 64%-34%.^[15] He is the longest-serving Texas Attorney General in Texas history.

2014 election for governor

On July 8, 2013, Governor Rick Perry announced that he would not seek a fourth full term.^[16]

On July 14, 2013, speaking near the Alamo on the 29th anniversary of the accident that left him a paraplegic, Abbott formally announced his intention to run for Governor of Texas in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election.^[17] In the first six months of 2011, he raised more funds for his campaign than any other Texas politician, reaching $1.6 million. The next highest fundraiser among state officeholders was Texas Comptroller Susan Combs with $611,700.^[18]

Personal life

He and his wife, Cecilia P. Abbott, were married in 1982. Cecilia was a school teacher and the principal of the Cathedral School of Saint Mary in Austin from 1996 to 2001. She is Hispanic^[19] as her grandparents were immigrants from Mexico. Cecilia was raised in San Antonio by parents who were both educators.^[20] They live in Austin with their adopted^[21] daughter Audrey (born 1997).

Abbott became a paraplegic when an oak tree fell on him while he was running following a storm in 1984.^[22][23] He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since.^[24][25] He sued the homeowner and won an insurance settlement worth more than $10 million. ^[26]

Election history

2010

2006

2002

1998

References

Further reading

• Gonzalez, John W. "Abbott has friends and foes in disabled community." Houston Chronicle. July 29, 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Office of the Attorney General of Texas
  • Official biography
• Profile at the Texas Tribune
• Supreme Court on a Shoestring, The Washington Post, February 21, 2005
• http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0628/p01s03-usju.html