U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas held on to clinch a big win in Iowa Monday night, with about 28 percent of the vote, finishing more than three points ahead of Donald Trump. 

“Winning Iowa is a good first step, but you got to do more, that doesn’t do it on its own,” Cruz said before he headed off to New Hampshire. There was little time to celebrate or sulk, the remaining candidates quickly shifted focus to next week’s vote in New Hampshire.

“A win is a win and it gives him momentum and it certainly will encourage his financial base to contribute more money to his campaign,” said David Butts, a political consultant who has been working on races in Texas for more than 30 years.

If history has any say, the GOP’s winner in Iowa typically doesn’t win the republican nomination. The Iowa Caucuses have a very poor record when it comes to predicting the republican nominee, but Cruz is already breaking records—taking in more votes than any single candidate in the Iowa caucuses ever. 

Cruz said unlike his party’s past winners in Iowa, his campaign has the means and the drive to keep up the momentum. Cruz said, “We’ve got the resources, we got over 200,000 volunteers nationwide and a grass roots army.”

Cruz had the strongest ground campaign with 12, 000 people working in Iowa and 800 of them are from Texas.

“Once again, organization sort of trumped Trump, I think in that regard,” Butts said. However, Butts said Trump does have an advantage because he can afford to fund his own campaign.

“We will go on to get the republican nomination and we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up there,” Trump the crowd in Iowa Monday night.

One of the biggest surprise of the night was the tight race for second place. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida gave trump a run for his money— with more than 23 percent of the vote, Rubio finished about one point behind Trump. “So this is the moment they said would never happen,” Rubio said to his supporters in Iowa.

The unexpectedly close race between three republicans is upping the ante for the so-called southern regional primary when Texans hit the polls on Super Tuesday.

“It’s a huge opportunity for our state to have a dramatic impact on the outcome of the presidential nominee for the Republican Party,” said Tom Mechler, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

On the other side, the Texas Democrats echoed the same excitement for a competitive primary come March 1ST.

“We’re the biggest prize on Super Tuesday, so that means folks are going to have to come down to Texas and really campaign for the votes of Texans, so it’s a really exciting time for democrats,” said Crystal Perkins, Executive Director for the Texas Democratic Party.

Unlike the republican caucus, the democratic winner in Iowa often wins the nomination but in a in a nail biter, Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by less than half a percentage point. “Texas is up for grabs,” Perkins said. 

In such a delegate-rich state, Butts said the competition will heat up as Texans prepare to cast their ballots.

“By the time we get to Texas, two or three more candidates will have dropped out, at least that many and this will allow Rubio maybe a little better show,” Butts said. “Trump, if he doesn’t win one between now and Texas, I just don’t know what to expect from him.”

Butts said as long at Cruz doesn’t stumble in New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada, his campaign will likely get another boost on his home turf. Butts said, “Texas will be Cruz’s to lose, quite honestly.”