THE TEXAS TRIBUNE -- Eight top Republican statewide elected officials in Texas have the support of President Donald Trump.
"I want to encourage all of my many Texas friends to vote in the primary for Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton," Trump tweeted Tuesday. "They are helping me to Make America Great Again! Vote early or on March 6th."
Hours later, he followed that message up with a tweet expressing his support for Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick.
The second tweet has the potential to be more impactful in the March elections. Bush and Miller both face competitive primaries: Bush has been challenged by former Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson while Miller, an especially outspoken Trump supporter, is in a tense primary race with former lobbyist Trey Blocker.
Trump promoted Bush for backing him "when it wasn't the politically correct thing to do." Regarding Miller, Trump repeated one of the agriculture commissioner's favorite descriptions of himself: "Trump's Man in Texas."
Meanwhile, Abbott met with Trump and several Cabinet secretaries Monday in Washington, and Cruz and Trump appear to have patched things up after clashing during the GOP's 2016 presidential primary season.
Cruz enraged many Trump supporters in 2016 by telling a national GOP convention audience to "vote your conscience" instead of explicitly endorsing Trump. But Vice President Mike Pence expressed the administration's support for Cruz this month, calling the senator "the pride of Texas."
All the Texas politicians will likely welcome Trump's support. The president's approval rating among Republicans in the state is 83 percent, according to a recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll. Overall, an equal number of Texas voters approve and disapprove of Trump.
Disclosure: Trey Blocker, Jerry Patterson, the General Land Office and The University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune.
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