Huffines claims Abbott has 'allowed the woke agenda to take priority over urgent matters'

GOP gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines has taken notice of the dangers that Harris County law enforcement officials are under and has pledged to make their jobs safer as governor.  

Six Harris County police officers were killed or wounded while on duty from Jan. 22 to Jan. 27.

The newspaper reported that a police K9 was stabbed with a butcher knife by a robbery suspect who later confessed to murdering his father. The K9 is expected to recover after undergoing emergency surgery. The next day, Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, was shot and killed at a traffic stop. Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez was hit and killed by a vehicle on the Sam Houston Parkway the next day, Jan. 24.

Three officers were wounded in a shootout with Rolan Caballero on Jan. 27 and are expected to make a full recovery, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“Unfortunately for Texas, this isn’t an isolated incident. Even in our state government, Greg Abbott and others have allowed the woke agenda to take priority over urgent matters like human trafficking and soaring crime,” Huffines told Houston Daily. “Unlike Greg Abbott and this sheriff, there will be no place for wokeness in my administration. As Governor, I will lead, I will never follow the cues of the Left.”

Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 1900 into law last year, which hampers municipalities with populations of over 150,000 people from defunding their police departments, with the bill stating that if a city lessens police department funding from the previous two fiscal years, they will lose the ability to collect more property taxes than it did the previous year. 

“This is Abbott’s pattern: he takes symbolic action that he has no interest in enforcing. And, as the head of Texas’ executive branch, enforcement of the law is his main job,” Huffines told the news station. “As governor, I would be going after these left-wing cities and requiring that they get their priorities back in order. And because of that hesitancy, murder rates are sky-rocketing.”

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated in Feb. 1 message, “As we all know too well, law enforcement face more than public concerns. Law enforcement also deal with additional stress leading to physical and mental health anxieties. Now, imagine carrying the added emotional burden of having to suppress who you are because it does not conform to society’s norms regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The note went on to ask that staff “always be respectful of employee’s [sic] pronouns and gender identity" and stated that the only appropriate answer to a co-worker saying they are transgender is one of immediate support, according to Texas Scorecard.

Houston has seen a 44% surge in murders in 2020 and another 18% increase in 2021, according to U.S. News, with city officials announced pledging over $44 million to address the rise in violent crime.

Gov. Abbott has been in office since 2014 and is expected to face Huffines in the gubernatorial primary on March 1.