Hasn't been for a while, in fact. It's what makes politics in that hellhole rather interesting.
It used to be as you describe--very much so, under Bush, but that has changed in the last decade and a half. It's not due to the constitutional nature of the job, it's more due to "cult of personality." Perry crafted a little "club," and one of his good ol' boys has succeeded him in the Boss Man job. The members of that little club have been schooled in the "Go Along, Get Along" style--and crossing the governor is now far more risky a proposition than it used to be back in the "Go do the job and stay out of the papers" days.
Here's some background for you:
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/politics/2012/01/rick-perry-201201
So little did many Texas journalists think of Perry that it took years for them to realize how thoroughly he had consolidated power. Until Perry, Texas was known as a “weak governor” state, meaning the governor has little control over state agencies such as Transportation and Agriculture. “Texas agencies are all run by boards and commissions, all appointed,” says Paul Burka. “Even our two strongest modern governors, John Connally and George W. Bush, appointed people and told them, ‘Just go do your job and stay out of the papers.’ That’s what Bush told people. Until Perry, the governor never ran the agencies. The governor was not considered a chief executive officer. What Perry did was [he told people] if you wanted to be on a board he would appoint you, but only on the grounds that you had to do what he told you to. Perry determined policy. No other governor has done that. Not one.”
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/07/08/weak-governor-system-strong-governor/
...Perry, because of his tenure and the methodical placement of former staffers throughout the government, changed all that, turning a weak office into a powerful one. It’s hard to remember how it used to be.
http://www.texasmonthly.com/topics/rick-perry
For most of history, Texas has been considered a “weak governor” state. That changed under Perry’s leadership. “His long tenure in office … has enabled him to establish what amounts to a cabinet style of government,” giving him vastly more power than any of his predecessors, senior executive editor Paul Burka wrote in 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/us/the-slow-process-of-removing-rick-perrys-footprint-from-texas.html
.... it takes six years to run through a full cycle of appointments, and a governor’s term is only four years.
This setup is designed to drain the power of the occupant of the Governor’s Mansion, which in turn empowers the leaders of the Legislature. If they wish to do so, a speaker of the House and a lieutenant governor can run rings around a governor.
The people who deal with state government used to take this as one of the laws of their peculiar universe, embodied by lieutenant governors like Bill Hobby and Bob Bullock and, for a couple of years, Mr. Perry and Bill Ratliff.
It has eroded considerably, mainly because Mr. Perry has now been governor for so long, and because he understood better than most how to consolidate the ordinarily anemic powers given to him.
Mr. Perry has vetoed 301 bills. Aside from pushing that legislative work into the trash bin, his vetoes had the effect of letting everyone know that he was willing to kill things he did not like. His first session as governor was, in this sense, the bloodiest: He ended that one with 83 vetoes.
Now, open this link, watch the video there, and listen to what Rick Perry had to say about his successor--they're on the same page, and his acolytes are Abbott's acolytes:
http://video.statesman.com/Governor-Rick-Perry-speaks-on-Greg-Abbotts-win-28104486
And last, but most certainly not least, check this out:
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/07/greg-abbott-the-next-rick-perry
.... in the hyperlitigious Abbott, Texas Republicans have a replacement who may just do the impossible—make progressives miss Rick Perry.
That's because for most of the last decade, the actions that have done the most to harden Perry's anti-Washington reputation have really been the work of Abbott. While lacking the coyote-sniping public swagger of the current officeholder, Abbott, whose office is independent of the governor, has been leading the state's legal challenge to virtually every notable piece of legislation that's come out of Washington in the Obama era.
As for Jorge P., there's no reason to believe that he, like others, isn't in the "Perry Club." If he plays his cards right and doesn't rock the boat, he could do very well indeed. The GOP "faux cabinet" has been successful by circling the wagons around the governor. It doesn't look like that style is changing, but it is early days yet--time, as it always does, will tell.
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How the hell these smilee things work?
(trying to get smileys down) really likes bravenak. 
