Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke win Texas gubernatorial primaries

(Image credit: Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

published 2 March 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and former congressman, former Senate candidate, and former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke (D) have won their gubernatorial primaries and will face each other in the November general election.

Abbott received 68.8 percent of the vote in the GOP primary, with challengers Allen West and Don Huffines at 11 percent each, according to The New York Times.

O'Rourke won his primary by an even higher margin, netting almost 92 percent of the vote.

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"THANK YOU, TEXAS!" O'Rourke tweeted after being declared the winner. "We are going to win this race with one another, for one another."

The Real Clear Politics polling average shows Abbott, who is seeking a third term, leading O'Rourke by almost nine points. The Cook Political Report rates the Texas gubernatorial race as "Likely R."

A poll released in late January showed Abbott and O'Rourke polling dead even among Hispanic voters. Among white voters, Abbott led O'Rourke by 29 points.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.