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Davis wants "Straight Answer" from Abbott on Texas Equal Pay Act

The governor's race is already heating up less than a week after the Texas primaries.

Wendy Davis today blasted her Republican Challenger Greg Abbott for comments he made (or perhaps didn't make) about equal pay for women.

Abbot was interviewed over the weekend by TV station WFAA in Dallas. He was asked whether he'd veto the Texas Equal Pay Act like Governor Rick Perry did last summer.

Also known as the Texas Lilly Ledbetter Act, the bill was meant as a state-level companion to the federal act of the same name signed by President Obama in 2009. That law gives employees more lee-way to file discrimination suits over their paychecks.

Abbott didn't say whether he'd block similar legislation or not, but did say he "fully expects" women to be paid as much as their male counterparts. He also seemed to suggest the state already has enough safeguards against discrimination in place, pointing to a provision in the state's current labor code that prohibits discrimination based on sex.

Davis claims Abbott dodged the question, calling on the Attorney General to give a "straight answer" about the bill.

Davis says Texans should know whether Abbott believes in what she calls the "simple principle that a full day's work is worth a full day's pay, no matter what your gender."

The latest political move from the Davis campaign comes as both candidates work to win over the state's Hispanic and women voters - two demographics that are likely to be essential for both parties.

Travis Bubenik is All Things Considered Host and Big Bend Reporter at Marfa Public Radio.