Abbott says Houston has more brothels than Starbucks

It’s a subject area that was something of a political issue, and later something of a bigger thing on Broadway back in the 1970s, when some Texans were shocked to learn there was a brothel in La Grange.

The topic is back, sort of, in the current gubernatorial campaign, thanks to Gov. Greg Abbott.

Prior to diving into this, let’s acknowledge a stark, sad and serious reality: Human trafficking — a too-polite name for a disgraceful scourge — is a real and real serious issue. We should be grateful to officeholders of any political stripe who work to do something about it. It’s an ongoing battle, and it has very real victims.

Abbott brought the issue up during a recent telephone town hall with his supporters. More accurately, these periodic calls are fundraising efforts, and the campaign’s goal was $60,000 during the June 26 call.

The governor said some things and heard some things you should hear.

The first was something of a history lesson taught by Abbott in response to the appeal by the emcee (Nicole, I believe) for Abbott to say something that might move “folks who are on the fence tonight about helping out” with a donation to the already well-funded Abbott campaign. Abbott went Alamo. “But here’s the deal,” Abbott said. “All those people who fought for our freedom at the Alamo? They’re all gone. They’re all gone.” I checked. He is correct. Here’s something Abbott heard from caller Roger in Houston that the governor probably didn’t want to hear. Roger self-identified as a “big fan of the Second Amendment” and is involved with “several different gun organizations.”

“And I have been getting a lot of brochures from them saying you are cratering on a lot of Second Amendment issues since the Santa Fe (school) shootings,” Roger told the governor.

Abbott pushed back at length, listing all the measures he has supported.

A few minutes later, the governor said something else worth checking. It came in response to a question from Kerry in Fort Worth, who asked about campaign messaging. Abbott’s answer included this: “In Houston, Texas, there are more brothels than there are Starbucks.”

I tweeted it and got predictable retweets, with comments: “I’ll be in Houston Saturday. I’ll count.” “He would know.” “I thought you were an upstanding Christian man. How do you know so much about brothels in Houston?” My personal favorite: “Did he also tell them there are more Mattress Firm stores than Starbucks in Austin? Coin-