Texas Run-Off Election Results For US Senate

Today’s the big day and the numbers are already coming in (from KXII TV out of North Texas).

As of 8:02pm Central time, Ted Cruz leads David Dewhurst 53 to 47 with 348 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 8:14pm, KXII had not added any reporting precincts. But there’s also a run-off for the Democrat sacrificial lamb, and KXII has called that run-off for Paul Sadler. At that time, Sadler leads 63 to 37 with 322 of 7965 precincts reporting, and a vote count of 71,105 to 42,709.

For comparison, the KXII totals for the Republicans in the first update sat at 277,729 for Cruz and 241,902 for Dewhurst.

As of 8:29pm, as I await KXII updating the numbers, the Texas Secretary of State’s unofficial tally puts Cruz ahead of Dewhurst 625,000 to 534,000 with 1,711 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 8:37pm, KXII has called the run-off for Ted Cruz, with fewer precincts reporting than the Secretary of State’s office showed 8 minutes prior. Cruz leads on KXII 53 to 47 with 1,183 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 8:39pm Central time, the Associated Press has called the run-off for Ted Cruz.

As of 8:44pm Central time, the Secretary of State’s office has the unofficial tally at 670,264 for Cruz to 539,658 for Dewhurst with 2,386 precincts reporting.

David Dewhurst was the prohibitive favorite coming into the Primary season and nearly avoided a run-off but came up a fraction short of the 50 percent necessary.

UPDATE: BIG BRAIN CRAMP!
The above numbers from the Secretary of State’s office are wrong. I was reading the wrong line.
As of 8:54pm, the Secretary of State’s office has Cruz up 384,947 to Dewhurst’s 323,333 with 2,870 precincts reporting.

As of 9:10pm Central time, the AP shows Cruz up 55 to 45 with 4,043 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 9:14pm, the Secretary of State’s office has only 3,940 precincts reporting and Cruz up 439,879 to 361,363.

If I remember right, Dewhurst garnered 46 percent of the vote in the Primary, facing three big name opponents and a handful of little known opponents. That Dewhurst is only getting 45 percent of the vote now when he only faces one opponent is saying something. Don’t you think?

As of 9:22pm Central time, the Associated Press has Ted Cruz maintaining a 55 to 45 lead, with 4,645 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

Barack Obama had stated that he sees Texas becoming a swing state in the not too distant future. Well, definitely not this time around, if the run-off election is any indicator regarding Texas leanings. The Republican and Democrat run-offs thus far, according to the Associated Press:

Ted Cruz (winner) 469,123
David Dewhurst 383,263
4,645 of 7,957 precincts reporting

Paul Sadler (winner) 117,801
Grady Yarbrough 70,718
4,831 of 7,965 precincts reporting

As of 9:49pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Cruz has widened his lead to 56 to 44 and a 114,000 vote edge, with 6,274 precincts reporting. On the Democrat side, Paul Sadler (the winner) currently only has 131,000 votes total — with a 53,000 vote lead over his opponent.

The Secretary of State’s office shows 6,012 precincts reporting, with Harris County (Houston) only reporting 507 of 1,064 precincts — and a 54,000 to 34,000 vote Cruz lead over Dewhurst.

It’s a rumored unofficial pseudo-fact that Dewhurst was angling for the Governor’s mansion and adding US Senator to his resume would greatly aid him in that endeavor. It’s quite possible, after a major loss like this that Dewhurst is done as an elected official. The TEA Party lined up behind Cruz while the Establishment lined up behind Dewhurst. The Texas State Senators endorsed Dewhurst because (and this is an educated opinion, based on the Dewhurst infamy) they did not want Dewhurst to retaliate against them.

Time will tell whether Dewhurst retaliates a la Obama (whose vicious, lie-filled “personally destroy the enemy” campaign Dewhurst used) or moderates toward the Conservatives a la Clinton (after the Republican wave of 1994 crushed Clinton’s Big Government goals). But the Texas Lieutenant Governor position is one of the most powerful in the nation, as it is pretty much the major controlling power in the Texas Senate, deciding what gets to the floor to vote.

As of 10:26pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Ted Cruz has further widened his lead over David Dewhurst, 57 to 43, or a 14-point gap, with 7,269 of 7,957 precincts reporting. Cruz holds a 150,000 vote lead over Dewhurst, while the Democrats have chosen their sacrificial lamb in Paul Sadler who, with only 139,000 votes himself, holds a 63 to 37 lead over his opponent.

Dewhurst is very clearly gaining a smaller percentage of the run-off votes with only two in the race than he got in the Primary with four big names and a few minor names in the race. Dewhurst’s Obama-like “personally destroy the opponent with lies” campaign did more to harm Dewhurst than to help him.

As of 10:59pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Ted Cruz is maintaining his 14-point lead over David Dewhurst, 57-43, with 7,600 of 7,957 precincts reporting. Cruz holds a 145,000 vote lead, or nearly as large a gap over Dewhurst that Cruz’s General Election opponent has in his own run-off (147,000), which he is winning handily at 63 to 37.

And the Secretary of State’s office still shows Harris County (Houston) with only 507 of 1,064 precincts reporting… and Cruz with a 54,000 to 34,000 vote lead there.