TEXAS — If a politician's popularity is measured by the size of their war chest, people really, really like Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
"He's harder to run against," said Ross Ramsey, Executive Editor of The Texas Tribune. "He's the best financed politician in Texas. He spent in that July report, that's sort of a moment when he said 'I've spent $18 million, $16 million something like that, on TV and I've still have $40 million left. That's really something."
His Democratic challenger, former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, has a fraction of that. She's never run a statewide campaign. But she did win four times in Dallas County, appeared on the national stage during the Democratic National Convention in 2016 and had some national buzz about her campaign because she's the first openly gay woman to run for Texas Governor.
Abbott and Valdez faced off in one debate on a Friday night in September. There were tense moments and the differences between the candidates were clear. For instance, their stances on whether public school teachers should be allowed to carry guns, which was an idea that came out after the deadly school shooting at Santa Fe High School.
"The reason why I support arming teachers is because it was one of the proposals that came out of the three days of round tables that I conducted," Abbott said during the debate. "Never again should we allow this to happen because schools are a place to learn, not a place for fear."
Valdez had a different view on arming teachers.
"Teachers should be teaching, not being armed and being the defense," Valdez countered. "I do believe there should be some defense there, but teachers are not the ones."
Overall, this Governor's race has been overshadowed by two men: Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke.
"A lot of times it's 'oh yeah, there's also a Senate race.' It's a flip this time. It's the Senate race that's getting national attention, you know for a variety of reasons," said Ramsey.
Several polls report Abbott leads Valdez by double digits, but the Senate race is much closer.
"So somewhere in there is either a voter who votes for the Democrat in one race and then switches and votes for the Republican in the race. Or they vote for the Democrat in the top race and they go home, or that all sorts out," Ramsey said.
Of course, there's always a wild card. This is the last election where Texans can vote a straight party ticket. So if O'Rourke can light a fire under Democrats, who are usually outnumbered by Republican voters in Texas elections three to two, things could tip toward Valdez.
"That'll have some affect down ballot. Abbott may be strong enough to survive something like that," Ramsey said. "Some other Republicans might not."
Those other Republicans are everyone from the Lieutenant Governor to state senators and representatives. And while the state has seen record early voter turnout, we won't know who they're voting for until Nov. 6.