Democrat Wendy Davis is renewing attacks in the Texas governor's race on Republican rival Greg Abbott over past turmoil at the state's $3 billion cancer-fighting agency.
Davis said at an Austin campaign rally Tuesday that Abbott failed to be a watchdog as attorney general while the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas came unraveled by accusations of improper spending in 2012.
Prosecutors criminally indicted one top agency executive last year on charges relating to an $11 million award that bypassed review.
Abbott had a seat on the agency's governing board but didn't attend meetings. Spokesman Matt Hirsch said Abbott was simply removing himself from potential conflicts of interests.
Among Abbott's political donors are backers of companies that received lucrative agency awards.
