Texas Governor's Primary Race 2018: Find Election Results Here

AUSTIN, TX — With two little-known candidates running against him for the governorship of Texas, incumbent Greg Abbott is all but certain to secure the nomination in Tuesday's primary elections. Conversely, the Democratic primary race is up for grabs.

Just over an hour after the polls closed in Texas at 7 p.m., political pundits called the GOP primary race for incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott — to no one's surprise. While Democrats have shown remarkable momentum as they headed to the polls in record numbers during early voting, the state is still deeply red. What's more, Abbott didn't face substantive challengers contesting his seat.

The GOP contest was called for Abbott early on, with just under 5 percent of the total vote coming in. But the discrepancies between Abbott and his two challengers were monumental — posing a mathematical impossibility the two challengers could possibly catch up to his totals. We're talking 614,657 for Abbott (early, but still) to a combined 68,939 between his two challengers.

Again, there's no possible way the two contenders could catch up, even with the night being young and most precincts yet to report. Patch will have the final tally later Tuesday evening.

Given Abbott's insurmountable lead, the Republican Governors Association also felt comfortable going out on a limb to call the race for Abbott. From their Washington, D.C. home base, the RGA's Chairman Gov. Bill Haslam released the following statement:

"With over 500,000 new jobs, the most Texans working in state history, and more than $4 billion in tax relief, Gov. Greg Abbott’s strong leadership is delivering results for the people of Texas. “Gov. Abbott’s commitment to conservative, pro-growth policies has cemented Texas’s reputation as a top state for business, and with Governor Abbott in charge, Texas will continue to serve as a successful model for effective governance. The RGA is proud to support Gov. Greg Abbott’s re-election so he can continue leading Texas forward in a second term.”

Later in the evening, Abbott thanked his supporters via Twitter: "Thanks Republicans across Texas for your overwhelming support in the primary. Now we turn our sights to November and the battle to #KeepTexasRed. We will keep Texas, Texas. @TexasGOP #txlege #tcot."

Abbott's challengers were:

• Larry Kilgore, a 53-year-old telecommunications consultant from Irving, Texas, is one of those dark horse contenders running against Abbott. A perennial candidate, he's changed his name to appear on the ballot as "Secede Kilgore," a reference of his support of Texas leaving the union. He's a secessionist. There is a small but vocal group of folks in Texas who proudly label themselves as secessionists, even though the prospect of separation from the rest of the country would be logistically and constitutionally problematic. Kilgore is one of those people faithful to the secessionist cause.
• Retired schoolteacher Barbara Krueger, a Plano resident, is also throwing her hat in the ring for the gubernatorial seat. Little is known about Krueger, as she doesn't even have a campaign website to expound on her plank or provide biographical information.

Ahead of the election, Abbott telegraphed some of his hallmark accomplishments during his first term, including a call to overhaul the ineffectual Child Protective Services system and his championing of high-quality pre-K and improving teacher training. Abbott also distinguished himself last year with his swift response to the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, quickly securing both state and federal dollars to help the displaced and making special trips to regions ravaged by the storm in meeting with residents and other government officials.

Abbott also has made a name for himself as a foe of undocumented immigration. The hard stance led him to promote the crafting of Senate Bill 4 that outlines a series of punitive action against elected officials deemed uncooperative with federal officials in adhering to immigration laws. SB4 also gives police officers greater leeway to inquire about residents' citizenship status in the course of their work, even at the most benign traffic stop.

The hard immigration stance has won Abbot legions of like-minded fans while frustrating immigrant advocates. The fact Abbott has long been married to a granddaughter of Mexican immigrants has also served to baffle critics astonished by his aggressive anti-migrant stance and push to have all undocumented immigrants — including those with no criminal history — rooted out from Texas entirely. The expressed end game for Abbott is to end so-called "sanctuary cities" perceived as being overly welcome to undocumented immigrants.

On the Democratic side, a nine-way race, Lupe Valdez was slightly ahead of Andrew White — the two representing the strongest candidates in a crowded Democratic primary ballot. The former once served as the Dallas County Sheriff while the latter is a Houston businessman who is the son of former Democratic Texas Gov. Mark White.

As of 10 p.m., it was clear both candidates were headed for a May 22 runoff election with neither candidate topping 50 percent of the total vote. As of that hour, 658,475 votes were cast in the Democratic race, with 37 percent of precincts reporting — 2,820 of 7,694 precincts. Valdez was ahead with 265,539 votes or 42.5 percent; White with 177,526 votes cast (28.4 percent) and Cedric Davis getting 47,853 votes for 7.7 percent of the tally. The other candidates collectively garnered 136,227 votes, or 21.4 percent of the vote.

On the Republican ticket, it was no contest. With 1,061,241 votes cast (39 percent or 3,033 of 7,687 precincts), Abbott got 957,774 votes, or 90.3 of the total. Krueger got 90,161 (8.4 percent) while Kilgore got 14,145 ballots (1.3 percent).

Both Democratic front-runners tirelessly crisscrossed the country in the months leading up to Tuesday's primary election. But in Texas (and despite the current progressive momentum) it's considered a long shot to unseat a Republican. Abbott enjoys considerable popularity in red Texas, and is among the ten most popular governors in the country, according to a Morning Consult poll conducted in January. Rice University political science professor Mark Jones put it bluntly in an interview with Vox: “The race between Valdez and White determines who loses to Greg Abbott in November.”

Ouch.

We'll have those final primary numbers for you later. Check back or refresh this page for updates.

Nearly 886,000 Texans cast an early ballot in the state’s 15 most populous counties, the highest early vote turnout in a non-presidential election year in Texas history, Mark P. Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, told the New York Times. Democratic early voting saw a 105 percent increase from 2014, while Republicans posted a far more modest 15 percent increase, Jones said.

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