Incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott easily secured reelection on Tuesday by amassing 55% of the vote to defeat Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke.
Austin ABC affiliate KVUE and Austin NBC station KXAN reported that Abbott is projected to serve a third term in the State of Texas’s highest office. The governor kept tabs on the results in McAllen.
Per KXAN, Abbott will continue as the state’s second longest-serving governor.
For the 64-year-old Abbott, South Texas had a very special connection for his reelection campaign.
“We started this campaign in South Texas,” he said in a tweet accompanied by a video from his gathering at McAllen's Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center. “We celebrated our primary victory in South Texas. Tonight, we return to South Texas to celebrate re-election for four more years of prosperity. God Bless Texas!”
During his campaign, Abbott vowed to take a tougher stance on crime, as well as work to address the purported humanitarian crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, preserve the sanctity of life for the unborn and lower property taxes.
"I ran this campaign for the Texans who want safer streets,” he said, KVUE reported. “For the homeowners burdened with skyrocketing property taxes … For the ranchers and residents who pleaded for a secure border."
Abbott, an ex-state attorney general and a former state Supreme Court justice, first ascended to the governorship of the Lone Star State in 2014 and was successfully reelected the first time in 2018.
The Texas Tribune reported that Abbott was joined by wife Cecilia and the couple’s daughter and 150 supporters at a watch-turned-victory party.
According to the website, he attributed his victory to the Rio Grande Valley’s concerns about the border.
“Tonight, Texans sent a very resounding message,” Abbott said, The Texas Tribune reported. “They want to keep Texas a beacon of opportunity that we have provided over the past eight years.”