Our October cover is the twenty-fourth Texas Monthly cover to feature a firearm but the first to feature a wheelchair or an attorney general; it is likely to be the first and only Texas Monthly cover to feature all three at once. Just as likely is the outcome it predicts, that the man in the chair with the gun will become the next governor of Texas. I can think of at least two people—Tom Pauken and Wendy Davis—who might dispute this. In an interview last week with senior executive editor Brian D. Sweany, Pauken, who is running against Abbott for the Republican nomination, objected to what he referred to as “the divine right of succession.” But like it or not, in the fact-based world Abbott is the prohibitive favorite’s prohibitive favorite to win both the nomination and the general election next November. Which brings us to this month’s cover story, also by Brian. It’s the deepest, most illuminating story ever written about Abbott, full of interesting details about his upbringing, his family life, and the 1984 accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. We’ll be posting an excerpt of the story online Monday. The full piece will be on newsstands Wednesday, September 25. For now, please enjoy (or object to) the cover, the only Texas Monthly cover to feature an attorney general, a wheelchair, and a gun; and, barring an unlikely outcome, the first to feature the state’s next governor.
