New Abbott Ad Accuses Davis of Death Penalty Flip-Flop

In a new online ad, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for governor, accuses his opponent, state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, of flip-flopping on supporting the death penalty.

The ad claims Davis “voted to end” the death penalty in the past before coming out in favor of it during the current campaign. Featuring clips of text from a recent Houston Chronicle article, the ad references Davis’ vote in favor of a resolution urging a national moratorium on the death penalty when she was a new Fort Worth city councilwoman in 2000.

That article, however, undermines the claim that Davis’ vote was to end the death penalty:

“According to Fort Worth City Council minutes, the moratorium was proposed to ‘support a study of executions under the death penalty. It in no way means to suggest that a person's philosophy on capital punishment had to change or shift, only that the system needed to be looked at or reviewed.’”

Davis’ campaign has said she supports the death penalty and would enforce it as governor.