BOISE - Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has won a rare third term leading the state.

Otter, a longtime politician who served in both the state Legislature and Congress before he first won the governor's post in 2006, faced a difficult race against his Democratic challenger, Boise businessman A.J. Balukoff.

Another challenger, Libertarian attorney John Bujak, threatened to siphon votes from the right, along with a handful of lesser-known independent and third-party candidates.

But Otter's cowboy charm and political experience prevailed with voters in one of the most Republican states in the nation. That makes Otter the second governor in Idaho history to be elected to a third consecutive four-year term, along with Robert Smylie, who served from 1955 to 1967.

"You know there's an old cowboy code called the code of the West, and it's, you know, cowboys understand the difference between rules and principles," Otter said during his victory speech Tuesday evening. "Rules can change but principles can't."

Otter said he waited to give his speech several hours after The Associated Press called him the winner because he had not heard from Balukoff.

Otter's speech focused primarily on his determination to continue to fight same-sex marriage in Idaho. Earlier this year, Idaho's gay marriage ban was overturned in federal court.

However, Otter said Tuesday he would fight the ruling for as long as he could.

"I believe we are the last chance to stand up and fight for traditional marriage," he said. "If they want to change the rest of the 49 states, go ahead. Why should we change? That's not what our voters want, that's not what our creator wants, and that's not what Idaho wants."

Balukoff had fought against the incumbent by spending more than $3.2 million of his money on campaign advertisements blasting Otter's failures during his eight-year tenure.

Primarily, Balukoff focused on the 2013 private-prison scandal with the Corrections Corporation of America.

In 2013, an Associated Press investigation revealed that CCA wrongly told the state that guards were working shifts that were actually left vacant. CCA later announced it would leave Idaho, and Otter's top staff became involved in finishing a $1 million settlement with the company.

Balukoff called the settlement Otter's staff made with CCA inappropriate because the federal investigation into the scandal is ongoing.

Otter responded that he recused himself from the situation. Otter also said he had successfully led Idaho out of the Great Recession while keeping the state attractive to new businesses and unemployment rates low.

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch along with U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Raul Labrador were announced the winners against their Democratic opponents shortly after polls closed in Idaho Tuesday evening.

The senator will go on to represent Idaho for a second term, while Simpson will serve for a ninth term.

Risch, an attorney and longtime state senator who briefly served as Idaho governor before he was first elected to Congress in 2008, was challenged by Democrat Nels Mitchell, a Boise attorney, in Tuesday's election.

Simpson was challenged by former Democratic opponent Richard Stallings.

Stallings held the seat from 1985 to 1993. However, he lost to Simpson by 8 percent in 1998.

Meanwhile, Labrador will serve his third term in Idaho's 1st Congressional District after defeating Democratic challenger Shirley Ringo.

Over in the statewide races, Republican Lawerence Denney will replace outgoing Ben Ysursa as Idaho's secretary of state. Denney defeated House freshman and Democratic challenger Holli Woodings in Tuesday's general election.

The position oversees Idaho's election process and business registrations. The secretary of state also serves on the five-member Idaho Land Board, which oversees 2.5 million acres of Idaho land to benefit state public schools.

Denney comes with nearly 20 years of political experience, serving as Idaho's former House speaker and majority leader.

He is a proponent of Idaho's closed Republican primary election system and has said he would like to take greater measures in preventing voter fraud in Idaho.

In the state superintendent race, Republican candidate Sherri Ybarra has faced multiple gaffes along the campaign trail, causing Democrats to remain hopeful their candidate Jana Jones could win the seat.

However, Ybarra held a slim lead statewide as of 11:30 p.m. PST.