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Texas’ attorney general v. the Truth-O-Meter

By Sue Owen
July 13, 2013

State Attorney General Greg Abbott announced his bid for governor Sunday in San Antonio, and many observers already expect him to win, with conservative credentials that include fighting President Barack Obama on regulation of greenhouse gases, voter ID and redistricting.

PolitiFact Texas has checked claims from Abbott involving those issues and more. Scroll though the claims at right to see how the state’s lawyer fares on the Truth-O-Meter.

Don’t forget you can review the evidence for yourself. Original source materials are included in the source list on the right-hand side of each story’s web page.

And here’s a bonus: a claim Abbott tweeted that sparked a Pants on Fire rating. Eleven states trapped in a welfare death spiral? A claim that California and others had more welfare recipients than workers went viral in December 2012. We tracked down the original Fox Business map and where the story went awry.

Our Sources

PolitiFact Texas fact-checks, 2010-2013

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

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Mike Collier
stated on March 18, 2014 a campaign email blast
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False
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False
David Dewhurst
stated on January 20, 2014 a debate
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Full Flop
Dan Patrick
stated on January 20, 2014 a debate
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Full Flop
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stated on February 3, 2014 a photo-quotation posted to Facebook
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Pants on Fire!
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stated on January 19, 2014 a blog post on campaign website
Female buffalo lead the herd.
Mostly True

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Social Media
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stated on January 20, 2026 an op-ed


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