Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey announced on Sunday that there is one role he isn’t interested in taking on just yet: that of Texas governor.
Although McConaughey had been mulling over the idea of running for the state’s top political post, he said in an Instagram video on Sunday that he would not be running for governor in 2022.
“As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership,” McConaughey said. “It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I’m choosing not to take at this moment.”
McConaughey had decent polling results against the two main candidates in the gubernatorial race, Democrat and former congressman Beto O’Rourke and incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. But it was unclear whether the actor, who doesn’t have any political experience, could hold his own in a long campaign against the two.
It was also difficult for McConaughey to clearly state his position on many issues. McConaughey expressed his support for vaccinations to prevent COVID-19, but he also stated that he would not be vaccinating. he was reluctant to have his own kids get the shotsEven though evidence supports the assertion, smaller dosage vaccines for children are safe.
McConaughey’s announcement means that O’Rourke and Abbott are the two main contenders in the race. O’Rourke, a former congressional representative from El Paso who announced his gubernatorial candidacy earlier this month, is hoping to become the first Democrat to win the governorship since 1995.
But O’Rourke faces his own challenges. O’Rourke is seen now as the only anti-Abbott candidate. A recent poll revealed that only 35% of Texas residents see him as a positive figure..
Abbott’s popularity in the state is also waningThis is likely due to a series of authoritarian moves by Abbott and legislative Republicans. Abbott signed voter suppression legislation, anti-trans legislation, as well as a bill banning abortions after six weeks. The governor was also condemned.His weak response to the coronavirus pandemic and his lackluster leadership during an energy crisis in February, when Texas’s energy grid stopped working during an unusual winter storm.
In spite of Abbott’s tanking approval numbers, he still leads O’Rourke in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up. In a Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll published last week, voters were asked who they preferred to win the governor’s race in 2022. O’Rourke received 39 percent support, while Abbott received 45 percent.
