Republican Greg Abbott safely secured a third term as governor of Texas on Tuesday after defeating Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Abbott received just under 55% of the vote, while O’Rourke gathered just under 44%.

O’Rourke, a former El Paso congressman, attempted to hit Abbott on several recent events, such as his handling of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the power grid collapse, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the massacre at a Uvalde elementary school.

But Abbott, 64, a former state attorney general and Texas Supreme Court justice, earned the victory by campaigning on border security and tying O’Rourke to President Joe Biden, who is widely unpopular nationwide but especially in Texas.

He also used comments O’Rourke made on police defunding, gun confiscation, and abortion during his 2020 presidential run to claim the former congressman was too liberal for Texas.

In McAllen, Abbott gathered with a couple hundred of his supporters to await the results. After his victory became apparent, the governor took the stage, congratulated the other Republicans who won in Texas on Tuesday night and reiterated his focus as the state’s leader.

He called for lowering crime and property taxes, defending the oil and gas industry, and continuing his multibillion-dollar Operation Lone Star to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. He also called on Congress to take the lead on border security efforts.

“Tonight, Texans sent a very resounding message,” he said. “They want to keep Texas a beacon of opportunity that we have provided over the past eight years.”

O’Rourke, 50, took the stage at his election night party in El Paso and thanked supporters and family while conceding defeat.

“Everything we could possibly give to this campaign, we gave to this,” he told the crowd.

He suggested it may be one of the last times he gets to speak to his supporters in such a setting, but he promised to stay involved.

“I don’t know what my role or yours will be going forward, but I’m in this fight for life,” he said, eliciting the biggest applause of the night from the crowd.

O’Rourke has been the flag bearer for Texas Democrats for over five years. He built a large and devoted fanbase that made many consider him the party’s best shot at a Democrat winning statewide in Texas for the first time in over 25 years.

In the end, the race did not turn out to be that close. RealClearPolitics’ polling average placed Abbott’s lead around ten percentage points in the leadup to Election Day, a projection that turned out to be pretty accurate.

In North Texas, O’Rourke only won Dallas County after turning Tarrant County blue in his matchup for the U.S. Senate against Ted Cruz four years ago.

Below are the results of the governor’s race from North Texas counties:

Collin County:

Greg Abbott – 197,810 (54%)

Beto O’Rourke – 161,152 (44%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 3,866 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 836 (0%)

Dallas County:

Beto O’Rourke – 390,390 (63%)

Greg Abbott – 223,558 (36%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 5,795 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 2,007 (0%)

Denton County:

Greg Abbott – 176,741 (56%)

Beto O’Rourke – 136,102 (43%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 3,514 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 770 (0%)

Tarrant County:

Greg Abbott – 303,218 (51%)

Beto O’Rourke – 278,899 (47%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 6,432 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 1,794 (0%)

Ellis County:

Greg Abbott – 45,484 (67%)

Beto O’Rourke – 21,257 (31%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 680 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 176 (0%)

Parker County:

Greg Abbott – 52,444 (83%)

Beto O’Rourke – 10,105 (16%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 670 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 113 (0%)

Johnson County:

Greg Abbott – 42,867 (77%)

Beto O’Rourke – 12,220 (22%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 518 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 105 (0%)

Rockwall County:

Greg Abbott – 30,157 (71%)

Beto O’Rourke – 12,084 (28%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 445 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 80 (0%)

Kaufman County:

Greg Abbott – 28,281 (66%)

Beto O’Rourke – 13,997 (33%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 378 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 110 (0%)

Hood County:

Greg Abbott – 22,493 (83%)

Beto O’Rourke – 4,272 (16%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 280 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 47 (0%)

Hunt County:

Greg Abbott – 23,727 (78%)

Beto O’Rourke – 6,411 (21%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 292 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 76 (0%)

Somervell County:

Greg Abbott – 3,414 (85%)

Beto O’Rourke – 546 (14%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 49 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 6 (0%)

Wise County:

Greg Abbott – 21,948 (85%)

Beto O’Rourke – 3,528 (14%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 249 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 50 (0%)

Statewide:

Greg Abbott – 4,446,667 (54.9%)

Beto O’Rourke – 3,546,567 (43.8%)

(L) Mark Tippets – 82,797 (1%)

(G) Delilah Barrios – 28,762 (0.4%)

Write-ins – 1,451 (0%)