Mothers Against Greg Abbott has emerged as a powerful political messaging machine in the Texas gubernatorial race in recent months, thanks to the success of the group’s video ads on social media.

Nancy Thompson, an Austin mother of three is the group’s founder, started a social media group in August 2021. Mothers Against Greg Abbott has a private Facebook group with 57,000 members.

Mothers Against Greg Abbott has also formed a political action committee by the same name.

The group's two viral ads, one dealing with abortion and the other with school safety, have more than 7.7 million views on Twitter.

Abbott’s campaign did not return a request for comment about the advertisements or the group.

Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke told the Texas Tribune that the ads are “the talk of the town.”

The ad depicts a fictitious scene in which a doctor is counseling a woman about a pregnancy she may need to terminate because of a “catastrophic brain abnormality.” The doctor tells her there is “only one person who can make this choice” — before abruptly picking up the phone and calling Abbott. The ad has gotten over 7 million views on Twitter since it was posted July 25.

The video opens with a smiling mother helping her son fasten his shirt buttons and straighten out his clothes in preparation for the first day of school. 

She ties his shoes and buckles a strap on his apparel before pulling out a camera to take a picture. When she steps back and her child comes into focus for the first time, it is revealed that he is wearing body armor and a military-style helmet, posing for the photo while clutching a small chalkboard that reads, “First Day of School.”

The video was published Aug. 15. It has more than 700,000 views in about three days since going live.

Read more:MAGA ads go viral: How an Austin mom turned her anger over Greg Abbott's policies into a movement

The Austin American-Statesman and the Texas Tribune contributed to this report.