Texas Governor Greg Abbott's decision to end the state's mask mandate and allow all businesses to again operate at full capacity does not come without political risk.
University of Houston political science Prof. Brandon Rottinghaus believes Tuesday's announcement will be seen as the "ground zero moment" in Abbott's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to fall across Texas, the result will be a political victory of sorts for the governor.
But if the opposite occurs after the relaxing of restrictions, he said Abbott is certain to experience fallout as he presumably prepares to run for another term in 2022.
Rottinghaus spoke Wednesday with KRLD's Chris Sommer
