On Tuesday, Texas voters secured a resounding victory for faith, family, and freedom in our state.

From the top of the ticket down, Texas voters overwhelmingly supported a statewide slate of pro-life and pro-family conservative candidates. Every statewide candidate endorsed by Texas Values Action won big this year.

In the much-talked about Governor’s race, Greg Abbott easily defeated Wendy Davis, winning by 20 points. This historic loss by Wendy Davis is a thorough repudiation of Wendy Davis’ anti-life and anti-marriage record that was simply out-of-touch with most Texans.

Interestingly, despite all the Battleground Texas hype and millions poured in from outside Texas, Wendy Davis performed considerably worse than Democrat Bill White did in the Governor’s race in 2010 against Gov. Perry. It has also been reported that Wendy Davis lost the female vote.

Other exciting statewide victories included family-values champions Ken Paxton and Dan Patrick, both endorsed by Texas Values Action. Ken Paxton easily won the race to replace Greg Abbott as the state’s next Attorney General, and Dan Patrick easily defeated anti-life Democrat Leticia Van de Putte in the race to become Lieutenant Governor.

There is no doubt under Dan Patrick’s leadership and with several strong new Senators, the Texas Senate is poised to be considerably more conservative in the next session. In the most high-profile senate race, pro-life tea party activist Konni Burton, who was endorsed by Texas Values Action, successfully flipped Wendy Davis’ senate seat in SD 10 giving Republicans a stronger majority in the Texas Senate.

In the Texas House, pro-life and pro-family conservatives also gained ground in several contested races. In the Galveston area, Texas Values Action endorsed Wayne Faircloth won a big victory flipping a seat that had been held for a number of years by Democrat Craig Eiland.

And in the DFW area, Texas Values Action endorsed candidates Rodney Anderson, Matt Rinaldi, and Tony Tinderholt easily fended off challenges, and they will add solid pro-family votes to the Texas House. Anderson, Rinaldi, and Tinderholt had each defeated moderate Republicans in the primary earlier this year.

Overall, Republicans picked up three seats in the Texas House giving Republicans a near super-majority of 98-42.

Now with the historic election behind us, the attention turns to the legislative session in January of next year. With attacks on religious freedom in Texas growing almost daily in places like Houston and our marriage laws under assault by an out-of-control judiciary, the opportunity is ripe for Texas to boldly lead on issues impacting faith, family, and freedom.

It will simply be unacceptable for much needed conservative reforms to be obstructed by the liberal-leaning legislators of both parties, particularly in the Texas House, that seek to keep the status quo.

Make no mistake, values-voters of Texas have given Republicans a firm mandate for much needed pro-religious liberty, pro-marriage, and pro-life reforms. And they expect Texas’ leaders to act.