Gov. Greg Abbott says he's focused on job growth, property tax relief, school choice & the border in third term

TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – After winning a third term in office, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said he's continuing to focus on economic growth in Texas. 

"It starts by keeping Texas as the number one state for the best economy in America and the number one state for jobs," Abbott said. "We must fight against Joe Biden's war against oil and gas and keep Texas number one for oil and gas production in the United States of America."

Abbott defeated Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke by 11 percentage points, 55% to 44%.

During a speech to his supporters in McAllen Tuesday night, he looked toward the upcoming state legislative session which begins in January. 

He advocated for school choice and to continue his efforts to secure the border.

The Governor repeated his campaign pledge to provide property tax relief. 

"We must tap into our $27 billion surplus and use that to give our property owners the largest property tax cut in the history of Texas," Abbott said.

During the campaign, O'Rourke pressed for increasing gun sale restrictions after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde last May.

He also pushed for reproductive rights after the state's new law banned most abortions.

Dr. Joshua Blank, Research Director at the Texas Politics Project at UT Austin, said Abbott's message resonated more with voters.

"The issues the voters persistently said were the border and inflation and then largely due to the effectiveness of a lot of the Republican campaigns public safety started to rise as we got closer and closer to Election Day," Blank said.

Blank said O'Rourke faced an uphill climb, in part because of President Biden's unpopularity in Texas, "There's only so much he can do in an environment that is always going to be tough for any Democrat, even as a Democrat as well known and well-resourced as Beto O'Rourke given the fact that Democrat in the White House with economic concerns."

O'Rourke told his supporters in El Paso Tuesday night that while he and his vision didn't win, he's still hopeful it will be achieved at some point. 

"We just want a state where people are free enough and healthy enough to be able to pursue their potential and to fulfill their true promise," O'Rourke said. "A state where we are not defined or divided based on our differences but find the common interest for the common good. I don't know what form that will take. I don't know what my role or yours will be going forward, but I'm in this fight for life."

O'Rourke raised more money than Governor Abbott this year.

But despite a well-financed campaign and statewide name recognition, O'Rourke didn't win as many votes as former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, the Democrat who challenged Abbott in 2018 who had neither statewide name recognition nor adequate fundraising.

Valdez won 3,546,615 votes, while O'Rourke earned 3,527,748, a difference of 18,867.

Governor Abbott won 4,424,776 votes, a record amount for a Texas Governor.

But he didn't receive the most votes in Texas Election Night.

Republican incumbent State Supreme Court Justice Rebeca Huddle won the most votes, 4,518,207.

Seven other Republican statewide elected officials received more votes than Abbott.

In the Lt. Governor's race, Dan Patrick won 4,305,731 votes, defeating Mike Collier by 11 percentage points, 54% to 43%.

Attorney General Ken Paxton received 4,267,081 votes, beating Rochelle Garza by nine percentage points, 53% to 44%.

Paxton warned supporters in Plano Tuesday night not to let down their guard, "The fight is not over. They're going to continue to come after me. They're going to continue to come after Texas. They're going to continue to come after Republicans in the country and we cannot let them win."

In Houston, Garza said Democrats shouldn't give up, "Texas is worth investing in. And there is momentum and support for the issues that we centered this campaign around." 

During her campaign, Garza sharply criticized Paxton's legal troubles, just as his Republican challengers did during the primary earlier this year.

He faces a trial on state felony fraud charges dating to 2015 and separate allegations of bribery made by his office's former top lieutenants.

Paxton has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in both cases.

Blank said while Democrats made ethics an issue, it did not matter to most voters. 

"The idea was that this race might be a little different than the other ones, but ultimately, that was more an idea than a reality," Blank said. "Rochelle Garza ultimately as attractive of a candidate as she may have been, was still a Democratic candidate in Texas who began the race with no name recognition."

While the Governor won Tarrant, Collin, and Denton Counties, his margins of victory there all declined from 2018, and he lost by a greater margin in Dallas County than four years ago.

Governor Abbott's campaign team told reporters Wednesday morning they still have work to do to build up their infrastructure and support in the suburban counties.

While Republicans made some gains in South Texas, and said they want to build upon that, the population there is much smaller than the large metro areas like North Texas.

Dallas became more Democratic this year.

Tarrant County is Republican, but Joshua Blank said he believes it remains competitive, "It definitely depends on who's on top of the ticket, but it also depends on the overall environment."