Greg Abbott

After nearly a decade in office, Gov. Abbott has made real estate policy another front in his culture-war campaign.

The country’s longest-serving incumbent governor, Abbott has kept Texas reliably red while repeatedly promising property tax relief in a state with no income tax, and where local governments rely heavily on property tax revenue. His proposals have grown increasingly ambitious, including floating the idea of capping or even abolishing property taxes altogether, which critics argue is fiscally impossible.

In the most recent legislative session, Abbott used real estate policy to broaden the reach of the governor’s office. He backed higher homestead and business personal-property exemptions aimed at lowering tax bills, while also signing legislation that restricts foreign investment in Texas real estate and significantly expands his own authority. The law allows Abbott to block land purchases by entities tied to countries deemed national security threats including China, Iran, North Korea and Russia. It also gives him unilateral power to add countries to that list. 

In spring 2025, Abbott targeted a proposed North Texas master-planned community formerly known as EPIC City, now rebranded as The Meadow. The development, anchored by a mosque, became the subject of multiple state investigations after Abbott publicly speculated that it would impose Sharia law.

He later signed legislation aimed squarely at developments structured like EPIC City. The law mandates that investors be notified they are buying into a business venture, and it narrows religious exemptions for large land parcels, changes that critics say single out one project while expanding the governor’s leverage over future real estate developments.

— Isaiah Mitchell