Greg Abbott is projected as the winner of the latest gubernatorial race in the Lone Star State. With two-thirds of the votes counted, he reportedly holds a 10.4% lead against Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke that is expected to grow as more votes are counted.
Political analysts initially depicted the 2022 Texas gubernatorial contest as a hotly contested race. However, the campaign of Beto O’Rourke did not seem to penetrate the stronghold that Abbott has on the state as the election cycle developed.
“[Eight] years of Greg Abbott is more than enough,” O’Rourke tweeted on the eve of the election.
Ultimately, voters in Texas pushed back against his claim. Despite national backlash for his handling of a recent school shooting in Uvdale, Texas and his stance on abortion rights, Abbott has managed to appeal to voters within state lines and remain in office for nearly a decade.
Abbott is one of more than a dozen Republican candidates to take over as governor on Election Day. Most notably, Ron DeSantis set himself up for a potential run at the White House in 2024 by maintaining his position of governor in Florida. Elsewhere, former White House Press Secretary Sara Huckabee Sanders followed in her father’s footsteps and became the next governor of Arkansas. Closing out the night, Brian Kemp will attempt to fend off Stacey Abrams and earn another term as governor in Georgia.
