Following the March 1st primary, Texans now have a choice to make: incumbent Governor Greg Abbott will be facing off against Beto O’Rourke for governor.
The Republican governor’s primary turned out exactly as many expected, though not the way a lot of people hoped it would. While Governor Abbott has done a lot of good things, he has been seen by many as an establishment figure, and has been criticized for being a do-nothing Republican while his GOP opponents, such as Lt. Col. Allen West or comedian and political commentator Chad Prather, were more America-First and had more plans to take direct action to push Texas in a more conservative direction.
Texas’ Democrat primary for governor went exactly as expected, with Beto O’Rourke winning over his relatively unknown opponents. O’Rourke really only has one success in his life: he served as the U.S. representative for Texas’s 16th congressional district from 2013 to 2019. Beyond that, he is a failed Senate nominee, and a failed presidential candidate. “Beto” isn’t even his real name, he just chose it in a desperate attempt to appeal to Hispanic voters in his state. His real name is Robert Francis O’Rourke.
According to the New York Times election tracker, Abbott received 1,234,836 votes, avoiding a run-off by winning approximately 66% of the vote in the GOP primary, while O’Rourke received 911,554 votes, which was around 91% of the votes cast in the Democrat primary.
“Tonight, Republicans sent a message. They want to keep Texas on the extraordinary path of opportunity that we have provided over the past eight years. A Texas where working families can flourish under the ninth-largest economy in the world. A Texas where students are prepared and inspired for college or a career. A Texas that supports our law enforcement officers who keep our communities safe. A Texas where we protect your constitutional rights and individual liberties. A Texas where everyone has a path to prosperity,” Abbott said in his victory speech.
A recent poll from The Hill/Emerson College Polling shows that Abbott leads O’Rourke in the Texas gubernatorial race, with 52% supporting Abbott and 45% supporting O’Rourke.