The 2026 Texas gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on Nov. 3, 2026, with the primary set for March 3.
QUITMAN, Texas — The first democratic challenger vying for Governor Abbott’s seat in the 2026 election is a farmer and former firefighter from Quitman.
Bobby Cole is a retired firefighter, cattleman and poultry producer who has lived in East Texas since he was 7 years old — and in 2026, he has his sights set on the governor’s mansion.
Cole is running on a platform of reigning in property taxes, which he describes as “out of control,” funding the public education system and tackling rising prices caused by inflation and economic uncertainty. His website is also critical of current Republican leadership, whom he accuses of “ignoring important problems, like healthcare, all to focus on extreme policies supported by billionaires and bullies.”
Cole, if he wins the Democratic nomination, will face Gov. Greg Abbott who is running for an unprecedented fourth term in 2026. If Abbott wins he’ll become the longest-serving governor in Texas history. Abbott previously served as the attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015 and as a justice of the Texas Supreme Court from 1996 to 2001.
The 2026 Texas gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on Nov. 3, 2026, with the primary set for March 3. If Cole were to win the 2026 election, he would be the first Democratic governor in the state of Texas in over 30 years—the last of whom was Ann Richards in 1995.