Republican Gov. Greg Abbott wins re-election in Texas

Texas Governor Abbott celebrates re-election in McAllen

Incumbent Greg Abbott returned to McAllen to declare victory in the race for Texas Governor, a campaign in which he made border security a top issue.

AUSTIN, Texas - Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has won re-election in Texas, defeating Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke.

Abbott was first elected in 2014 to the position that Republicans have held in the state since 1995. He also previously served as Attorney General of Texas, a Texas Supreme Court justice, and a state district judge in Harris County.

The governor’s race highlighted issues like school safety, gun laws, border security and abortion.

During the only gubernatorial debate in September, Abbott defended his dramatic steps on the Texas border. He boasted about a $4 billion operation that has included migrant jails and buses to New York, Chicago and Washington and criticized President Joe Biden by name.

Abbot did not say where Texas would next send buses that refocused the race on immigration but defended the destinations to some of the nation’s largest Democratic-led cities as practical and not political.

"There will be other cities in the future that also will be on the receiving end of migrants, because we will continue to have to move migrants because Joe Biden continues to allow more illegal immigrants to come into the state of Texas," Abbott said.

Beto O'Rourke gives concession speech in El Paso after election loss

Democratic challenger in Texas governor's race thanked supporters for joining him in "giving it our all"

Former congressman and 2020 presidential candidate O’Rourke called the mission a failure and attacked Abbott over the number of migrant crossings remaining high despite the governor’s escalating mission over the past year.

"We are eight years into his time as governor, and this is what we have on our border," O’Rourke said.

During the debate, O’Rourke also accused Abbott of doing little to stop another massacre like the Uvalde elementary school shooting.

"It's been 18 weeks since their kids have been killed, and not a thing has changed in this state to make it any less likely that any other child will meet the same fate," said O'Rourke.

Uvalde families have put at the top of their demands raising the minimum age to purchase an AR-15-style rifle like the one used in the shooting from 18 to 21 years old.

Abbott said his hands were tied when it comes to altering the law on so-called assault weapons.

"It is unconstitutional for a state to raise the age from 18 to 21 for a person to buy an AR-15," Abbott said.

"No parent should lose a child and we want to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. We want to end school shootings," Abbott said of raising the age to purchase AR-15-style weapons. "’But we cannot do that by making false promises."

Abbott also doubled down on the current Texas ban on nearly all abortions.

In July 2021, Abbott signed the so-called "trigger law" which would ban all abortions from the moment of fertilization if the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, which happened this summer.

The law makes an exception only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function," but makes no exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or severe fetal abnormalities.

Abbott and O’Rourke both raised tens of millions of dollars for their campaigns. By mid-October, both candidates had surpassed more than $100 million in total money raised this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.