Abbott Tied with Manchin, Kennedy, Pence,
Taylor Greene and Trump Son in VP Odds
Capitol Inside
April 16, 2024
Republicans who read local newspapers from the Pennsylvania town of Indiana to Casper, Wyoming and Portland, Maine may be pulling for Texas Governor Greg Abbott's selection as Donald Trump's new running mate after a long and glowing pitch for him by a syndicated column last week.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Cynthia M. Allen couldn't have made a more compelling case for Abbott as the vice-presidential nominee if she'd been on the governor's public relations team. But the self-styled conservative scribe in Cowtown shouldn't expect to see her words move the needle in Las Vegas where the bookmakers have never taken Abbott seriously as a potential sidekick for Trump in 2024.
Abbott's odds for the vice-presidential nomination range from near zero to nonexistent on the major sites that accept bets on the national election in the U.S. in 2024. According to OddsChecker, the third-term Texas leader has the 19th best chance of a casting from Trump for the VP slot at +8000 in the wagering vernacular. Abbott is actually tied with U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina - with the two ranked just below rookie U.S. Senator Katie Britt of Alabama.
The site BetUS lists 47 Republicans as betting possibilities in the Trump vice-president sweepstakes. Abbott isn't one of them. BetUS gives U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, former congressional Democrat Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem have the best odds on BetUS for the second spot on the Trump ticket at +300, +400 and +600 respectively.
Scott, Gabbard and Noem are ranked as the three leader contenders for VP for the GOP on BetOnline as well. But Abbott also is missing from the BetOnline list that features 20 Republicans as potential nominees for vice-president on a ticket that's almost certain to have Trump at the top.
The true Abbott believers who think Trump will come around on the governor could make a killing on the site Bovada if they're willing to drop some cash on the govenor in the competition for VP. But it would be understatement to classify the Texan as an underdog.
Abbott tied for 22nd in a group of 10 Republicans in the odds that Bovada currently lists in the vice-presidential scramble that will end at some point between now and the party's national convention in Milwaukee in mid-July.
At odds of +10000 on Bovada, a bet of $10,000 on the Texas governor to get the call from Trump would pay $1 million in winnings if it hits. A $1 million bet on Abbott to land the ticket's second spot would win $100 million. A more pedestrian bet of $100 on Abbott as the VP would return $10,000 as the prize.
Famous Houston furniture magnate Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale could send shock waves through Sin City with a wager of six or seven figures on Abbott as the VP nominee. McIngvale would be playing with house money after making winning a record $75 million on multiple bets that he placed on the 2022 World Series that his beloved Houston Astros won. The high-rolling senior citizen reportedly claimed a pot of $30 million alone on a single wager of $3 million that he made on the Astros at +1000 at Ceasars sports book.
McIngvale came up empty when he bet $2 million on the Astros to win it all again in 2023. He lost another $1 million last month when he put it on the University of Houston to emerge as the NCAA men's basketball champions. Duke knocked the Cougars out in a thriller in the Sweet 16.
Abbott appointed McIngvale to a special committee to reopen Texas after the governor locked it down during the early months of the covid pandemic in 2020. Abbott saluted Mattress Mack the year before that after he helped find shelter for people who'd been displaced in flooding.
"God Bless Mattress Mack," Abbott wrote on the social media site that was known as the time as Twitter. McIngvale could win $300 million if he bet $3 million to be the GOP VP nominee and cashed it.
Abbott is tied on Bovada with a bipartisan cast of potential competitors for vice president including Democrats Joe Manchin and Robert Kennedy Jr. and notable Republicans such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mike Pence, Josh Hawley, Dan Crenshaw and Donald Trump Jr.
The pack of potential Trump VP contenders that are deadocked with the Texas governor at +10000 include the former president himself. Abbott has the same odds as Trump to be the nominee for vice president this fall. The chance of Trump running for VP is none.
The Republicans with higher odds in the VP chase than Abbott include Sarah Huckabee Sanders at +2500, Tucker Carlson at +4000, Kari Lake +5000 and Ron DeSantis at +6000.
Abbott failed to experience any sort of boost in the Vegas sports books eyes despite Trump's recent gushings of praise and teasing about the possibilities of him on the national Republican ticket this fall. Abbott has reaped massive publicity for a military buildup at the border, the busing of migrants to major cities in other states and an attempt to pass a law that would have given Texas deportation powers.
Trump called Abbott "a spectacular man" during a press event this year in Eagle Pass. The former president said he definitely considered the governor to be a candidate for vice-president when asked in a television interview with Abbott beside him if would. Abbott suggested that he wasn't interested in any jobs beyond his current post. But the prevailing sentiment has been that he would accept an invite to be Trump's running mate without hesitation if offered.
The FWST column ticked off some arguments in Abbott's favor.
"Whether you appreciate all of his decisions as governor, Abbott isn’t histrionic or bombastic; he would lend a seriousness and sobriety to the ticket that is lacking in Trump.
"Unlike some of the other potential VP picks, several of whom are senators, Abbott also has the kind of executive experience that would be needed in a second Trump White House.
"Texas is one of the most populous states in the country, growing by leaps and bounds due, in many ways, to Abbott’s good governance.
"While there are other governors being considered for VP — South Dakota’s Kristi Noem, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and North Dakota’s Doug Burgum, for instance — they each manage a much smaller state with fewer political complexities than Abbott faces in Texas."
more to come ... |
