Texas GOP Governor Greg Abbott, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, has now won the State’s GOP Primary, according to the projected victory from the AP and Decision Desk HQ.
With almost half of the votes now counted by 9 p.m. Eastern, Abbott got 69 percent of votes (which is 512,773), compared to the top challenger former Texas Republican chairman Allen West with around 11.3 percent and former Texas state Senator Donald Huffines with around 11.7 percent, the Texas Tribune said. Abbott got at least 50 percent, which means there is no need for a subsequent runoff election, according to Texas state law.
Abbott, who is now going for his third term as the Texas governor, mostly focused his attention on Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke. O’Rourke won his Dem primary, securing around 93 percent of the votes by 9 p.m., as reported by Decision Desk HQ. Pre-primary polling revealed both O’Rourke and Abbott as holding the most sway with their own parties. The two will now bump heads in the November general election.
A recent Emerson College survey has revealed that Abbott has a commanding lead over his challengers, with him having 61 percent of the vote. West getting only 12 percent and then Donald Huffines getting nine percent.
The Hill also reported in late Feb. that O’Rourke is dominating the field with around 68 percent support among Democratic primary candidates in the new survey, with no other candidate getting over five percent. However, the survey showed Abbott beating O’Rourke 52 percent to 45 percent looking down the line at the Nov. general election.
Abbott getting high marks from Donald Trump when the former president gave his endorsement in the summer of last year. Trump specifically said he was “a fighter and a Great Governor for Texas.”
“No Governor has done more to protect the Border and keep our people safe than Governor Abbott,” Trump said.
“Greg is a great defender of gun rights and has made Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State,” Trump declared.
Trump also mentioned that, “Texas has turned into a job-creating machine, and our partnership helped bring back America’s economic success and power.”
