2022 Texas gubernatorial election


The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott won a third term, defeating the Democratic nominee, former Congressman Beto O'Rourke. All statewide elected offices were currently held by Republicans. In his previous gubernatorial race in 2018, Abbott won with 55.8% of the vote.
The Democratic and Republican primaries were held on March 1, 2022. O'Rourke and Abbott won outright majorities in their respective primaries, and therefore did not participate in the May 24 runoffs.
Texas had not elected a Democratic candidate for governor since Ann Richards won a narrow victory in 1990. Additionally, Abbott had a strong approval rating on election day, with 55% of voters approving to 45% disapproving. Beto O'Rourke, who gained national attention in 2018 for his unusually close and competitive campaign against Senator Ted Cruz, was at one-time widely viewed as a rising star in the Texas Democratic Party and potential challenger for Abbott. However, in the intervening years, he amassed baggage that was leveraged against him in 2022. A failed run for President of the United States in 2020 was leveraged by Republicans to characterize him as opportunistic. Stances he had taken related to gun control during that presidential campaign were also leveraged against him by Republicans.
Abbott won by 10.9%, a slightly smaller margin of victory than his 13.3% margin in 2018 in spite of a much more Republican national climate in 2022, making this the closest gubernatorial election in Texas since 2006, and the closest election of Abbott's entire political career since his first race for the Texas Supreme Court in 1998. Beto O'Rourke, meanwhile, performed 8.3% worse than his 2018 Senate run, but he still won the highest share for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate since Ann Richards received 45.9% in her unsuccessful reelection bid against George W. Bush in 1994. Abbott's raw vote total was less than his 4.65 million in 2018, while O'Rourke set a record of most raw votes for a Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate at around 3.55 million, but it was also less than his 4.04 million vote total in the 2018 Senate race.
Abbott carried 235 out of 254 counties, flipping the heavily Hispanic counties of Culberson and Zapata and becoming the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win the latter in the state's history, while O'Rourke became the first Democratic gubernatorial candidate to win the county of Fort Bend since 1974. O'Rourke outperformed Joe Biden two years prior among Latino voters, though his performance with them was still worse than past nominees.

Republican primary

On June 4, 2021, Texas Republican Party chairman Allen West announced his resignation as party chair. West criticized Gov. Greg Abbott's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas. The history of conflict between West and Abbott included a lawsuit by West and other Republicans challenging Abbott's extension of the early voting period in 2020, as well as a protest outside the Governor's Mansion over pandemic-related shutdowns as well as mask mandates. On July 4, 2021, West announced that he would challenge Abbott in the 2022 gubernatorial primary. Both West and fellow gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines were considered more conservative than Abbott. On March 1, 2022, Abbott won the Republican primary by a smaller margin than in 2018.

Candidates

Nominee

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Greg
Abbott		Don
Huffines
Perry		Chad
Prather		Allen
West		OtherUndecided
The Trafalgar Group February 25–28, 20221,040 ± 3.0%62%10%2%2%15%5%3%
Emerson CollegeFebruary 21–22, 2022522 ± 4.2%61%9%3%3%12%3%9%
UT TylerFebruary 8–15, 2022581 ± 4.4%60%3%6%3%7%5%15%
YouGov/UTJanuary 28 – February 7, 2022375 ± 5.1%60%14%5%3%15%3%–
Paradigm Partners January 31, 20221,542 ± 2.5%34%5%6%6%43%3%4%
UT TylerJanuary 18–25, 2022514 ± 5.1%59%4%4%2%6%4%20%
YouGov/UHJanuary 14–24, 2022490 ± 3.7%58%7%3%2%11%2%17%
Paradigm Partners January 9, 20221,486 ± 2.5%33%5%12%3%38%3%7%
Paradigm Partners December 16, 2021447 ± 4.5%33%2%15%1%35%–14%
Paradigm Partners November 30, 2021– –42%3%–2%36%–17%
UT TylerNovember 9–16, 2021520 ± 4.7%65%3%–6%6%3%18%
Paradigm Partners November 11, 2021– –43%3%–2%33%–19%
YouGov/UT/TTOctober 22–31, 2021554 ± 4.2%56%7%–4%13%4%16%
YouGov/TXHPFOctober 14–27, 2021405 ± 4.9%61%4%–3%13%–19%
UT TylerSeptember 7–14, 2021427 ± 6.1%70%15%–––15%–
UT TylerSeptember 7–14, 2021431 ± 6.0%65%–––20%15%–
Victory Insights July 22–24, 2021400 ± 4.9%80%–––20%––
Paradigm Partners June 30, 2021– –73%–––17%–10%
UT TylerJune 22–29, 2021440 ± 5.4%77%12%–––11%–

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Greg
Abbott		Don
Huffines		Sid
Miller		Allen
West		Undecided
Public Opinion Strategies June 14–17, 2021446 ± 4.6%69%3%3%13%–

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Polling

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin
of error		Inocencio
Barrientez		Michael
Cooper		Joy
Diaz		Jack
Deirdre
Gilbert		Star
Locke		Beto
O'Rourke		Rich
Wakeland		OtherUndecided
Emerson CollegeFebruary 21–22, 2022388 ± 4.9%1%5%4%–––78%2%–11%
UT TylerFebruary 8–15, 2022479 ± 4.9%2%3%4%2%2%2%68%2%–14%
YouGov/UTJanuary 28 – February 7, 2022348 ± 5.3%2%1%2%–––93%1%1%–
UT TylerJanuary 18–25, 2022459 ± 5.4%1%6%4%2%1%1%58%0%–27%
YouGov/UHJanuary 14–24, 2022616 ± 3.3%3%4%3%–––73%1%–16%
YouGov/UT/TTOctober 22–31, 2021436 ± 4.7%––––––70%–5%25%