Texas Gov. Abbott wins reelection, defeats Beto O'Rourke

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott handily won reelection over Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke.

Though the Democrat had mounted an impressive campaign in 2018 against Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, he was unable to gain traction as a 2020 presidential candidate and underperformed in his second statewide test.

Abbott triumphed by 10.0% with 54.4% of the vote to O'Rourke's 44.4%. NBC called the race with 65% of the vote in.

Some polls had shown O'Rourke performing slightly better, though Abbott was still expected to win.