Election update provided by the Texas Lobby Group.
The longest primary season in Texas has finally come to an end.
The game of musical chairs in the Texas Senate is not going to happen.
Last night, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst fell short in his bid to become Texas’ next U.S. Senator. Instead, he will remain Lt. Governor for the next two years and continue to preside over the Texas Senate.
The Tea Party had a good night. Tea Party favorite Ted Cruz won the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat over Dewhurst. Cruz will face former State Representative, Democrat Paul Sadler in the fall to determine who will ultimately take Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat in the U.S. Senate. (Note: No Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994).
In the only majorly-contested Texas State Senate primary run-off race, incumbent Senator Jeff Wentworth lost to Tea Party favorite and lawsuit reform candidate Dr. Donna Campbell.
On the House side, the tea party candidates also did well. Two more incumbent committee chairs lost their seats – – Chuck Hopson and Sid Miller will not be coming back. Republican incumbent Representative Jim Landtroop also lost his re-election bid in West Texas.
In addition to the three above, in this overall primary cycle, the following House members (7) lost their seats:
Marva Beck (R-Centerville in District 57)
Leo Berman (R-Tyler in District 6)
Wayne Christian (R-Center in District 9)
Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands in District 15)
Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton (R-Lumberton in District 19)
Barbara Nash (R-Arlington in District 93)
Vicki Truitt (R-Southlake in District 98)
Overall, that is ten tenured House incumbents defeated in the primaries.
We also have a total of 21 newly elected House members (primary winners who face no general election opponent). Those include:
Trent Ashby (R-Lufkin in District 57)
Cecil Bell, Jr. (R-Magnolia in District 3)
Terry Canales (D-Edinburg in District 40)
Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake in District 98)
Travis Clardy (R-Alto in District 11)
Patrick Fallon (R-Frisco in District 106)
Marsha Farney (R-Georgetown in District 20)
James Frank (R-Wichita Falls in District 69)
Mary Edna Gonzalez (D-Clint in District 75)
Ken King (R-Canadian in District 88)
Stephanie Klick (R-Fort Worth in District 91)
Jeff Leach (R-Plano in District 67)
Oscar Longoria (D-Mission in District 35)
Chris Paddie (R-Marshall in District 9)
Scott Sanford (R-McKinney in District 70)
Matt Schaefer (R-Tyler in District 6)
Drew Springer (R-Muenster in District 68)
Jonathan Stickland (R-Bedford in District 92)
Steven H. Toth (R-The Woodlands in District 15)
Chris Turner (D-Burleson in District 101)
Scott Turner (R-Frisco in District 33)
Statewide, both Christi Craddick and Barry Smitherman were elected to the Texas Railroad Commission.
Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina, who has served on the high court since 2004, was ousted by John Devine.
To see more details on specific races, please see the attached chart on who won and who lost in all Republican and Democratic primaries.
2012 Republican Runoff Results
These are last night’s results… stay tuned for more news on what this means for the upcoming fall elections!!!!!