Kris Kobach, the staunchly conservative Kansas secretary of state who has built his career on a crusade against illegal immigration, is the Republican nominee in Kansas gubernatorial race.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded defeat on Tuesday, one week after the states primary. He said he would endorse Kobach in the general election.

Kobach defeated Colyer and two other candidates insurance commissioner Ken Selzer and former state Sen. Jim Barnett to win the nomination.

Kobachs lead over Colyer was too close to call last Tuesday and shrunk to just 91 votes on Thursday after Kobachs office said it had improperly recorded vote counts from a county in northwestern Kansas. Kobach had said he would recuse himself from the duties of his office until the conclusion of his states 2018 primary season so as not to interfere with any review of the votes.

Kobachs views on immigration and voter fraud have already placed him in the national spotlight, and his victory sets up a charged showdown in November with Democrats who will likely try to make the race into a referendum on Kobachs controversial views. A July poll showed Kobach trailing a state Sen. Laura Kelly, the Democrat Kobach will face in the November election. Greg Orman, a wealthy businessman, is also running as an independent.

Kobachs victory is a blow to the Republican Governors Association, which favored Colyer amid concerns about how Kobach would fare in the general election. The RGA and White House aides had urged President Donald Trump, who is close with Kobach, not to endorse Kobach in the race, but Trump did so anyway on Monday.

Kobach and Colyer are both very conservative, but had different campaign styles. Colyer was elevated to the governors office in January after former Gov. Sam Brownback (R) took a job in the Trump administration, and it seemed to take him more time to find his footing on the campaign trail, said Burdett Loomis, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Kobach, by contrast, seemed more comfortable on the campaign trail and used controversies like his decision to ride in a Jeep with a machine gun replica on the back to gin up media attention.

Kansas is still recovering from the impact of drastic tax cuts that Brownback signed in 2012. Despite Brownbacks promises of economic prosperity, growth has been sluggish and Kansas lawmakers moved to get rid of the tax cuts last year. Kobach has said he would again implement the tax cuts.