Texas Republican candidate Greg Abbott climbs up through parking garage in his wheelchair for new TV ad

Republican nominee Greg Abbott has a new ad in the Texas gubernatorial race, in which he demonstrates how he rebuilt himself physically after he began living in a wheelchair.

"After my accident, I had to rebuild my strength. I would roll up an eight-story parking garage — spending hours going up the ramps," Abbott says in a voiceover — as the ad shows him on video, doing exactly that. "With each floor, it got harder and harder. But I wouldn't quit." He explains that he would use the same perseverance to govern the Lone Star State.

Abbott, who is currently the state attorney general and previously served on the Texas Supreme Court, has been paralyzed from the waist down since 1984, when an oak tree suddenly collapsed and fell on him while he was jogging through the area.

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Abbott is widely favored to win the race for governor in this Republican-dominated state, against Democratic nominee state Sen. Wendy Davis. --Eric Kleefeld