Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Statewide Dem totals
Statewide GOP totals
Harris County Dem totals
Harris County GOP totals
(Please note that all results were coming in very slowly. I expect there will still be some precincts not yet reported by the time this publishes. So, I’m going to be less specific than usual, and may have to make a correction or two by Thursday.)
No real surprises here. Lupe Valdez and Andrew White will fight it out in the runoff. They combined for about 70% of the vote. Beto O’Rourke was a bit over 60% on his way to the Senate nomination. To be honest, I thought he’d score higher than that, but whatever. Statewide primaries are hard.
Miguel Suazo was near 70% for Land Commissioner, and Roman McAllen was near 60% for Railroad Commissioner. Mike Collier was leading by about seven points for Lt. Governor. The closest race was for Comptroller, where Joi Chevalier had a tiny lead over Tim Mahoney.
On the Republican side, Greg Abbott (90%), Ted Cruz (85%), Dan Patrick (75%), and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick (75%), who I didn’t even realize had an opponent, all cruised. Baby Bush and Sid Miller were in the high 50’s and so also on their way to renomination. That means the only statewide runoff will be for the Democratic gubernatorial race.
One note on turnout: In 2014, there were 554,014 total votes cast in the Democratic primary for Governor. The early vote tally for the Dem gubernatorial primary was 555,002. So yeah, turnout was up. Republicans will probably have 30-40% more total turnout statewide, but I fully expect Dems to top one million at this point.
The fact that 25% of GOP primary voters opposed Dan Patrick and that an advisory referendum to abolish all abortions had 32% of Harris County Republicans vote “no” ought to wake up a few folks, if the Sarah Davis romp and the implosion of Kathaleen Wall are not enough omens.
I was one of that 25%, and I voted no on the abortion referendum. I was also happy to see Wall lose. None of that means I don’t support Trump. It does mean I’m considering Mike Collier specifically in the general, though. I don’t like his position on illegals, calling them “guest workers: on his website, and I don’t like a few other positions he takes, but he’s absolutely right that Dan Patrick hasn’t delivered on property tax relief.
Also, consider that none of this will reflect on Cruz’s support. The 1/3 of Republican voters who voted no on ending abortion aren’t going to suddenly back Beto.
@Bill, Patrick isn’t going to deliver on property tax relief. His rich donors don’t want higher business taxes, which would be required to fund schools at a level that allows for local tax reductions.
Trump and his supporters are traitors to this country.
Correction, the vote against abolishing abortion by Harris County Republicans was 37% instead of 32%.