Election Night Results Wrapup

Busy night in Texas last night, although both sides in the gubernatorial race turned out being pretty anticlimactic. Incumbent Republican Rick Perry just barely managed to cleared the 50% hurdle and avoid a runoff; he got 51 to Kay Bailey Hutchison’s 30 and Debra Medina’s 19. Medina’s 19 is higher than anyone would have imagined a few months ago, but it also may reflect there’s a ceiling on what teabaggers can accomplish, and she may have reached that; that’s confirmed with the range of teabagger challenges to Republican incumbents in the House and the state legislature. Challenges to Ron Paul (81%) and Pete Sessions (84%) barely made a ripple, and while self-funding teabagger Steve Clark racked up 30% in TX-04, that’s mostly by virtue of running against the mummified remains of Ralph Hall rather than a vigorous opponent. In what seems like the two most competitive House races in November, the Republicans are headed to runoffs: Quico Canseco vs. Will Hurd in TX-23, and Bill Flores vs. Rob Curnock in TX-17. (Considering how uncontroversial incumbent Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo surprisingly lost a one-on-one to an underfunded unknown with an Anglo surname, I wonder if Canseco and Flores should be worried going into the runoffs.)

Bill White doesn’t get the advantage of a facing a runoff-addled Rick Perry in the general, but he’s coming into it with a head of steam, racking up 76% in the Dem primary to 13% for Farouk Shami. He’s likely to get a boost from Latino turnout as he’s backed up by two Latino ticket-mates who won last night: Lt. Governor candidate Linda Chavez-Thompson and Land Commissioner candidate Hector Uribe (who ended at 52% after trailing most of the night). (He’ll also be backed up by a non-annoying Ag Commissioner candidate, in the form of Hank Gilbert, who narrowly defeated Kinky Friedman.)

Further down the ballot, in what many considered the most important race of the night, in the GOP primary for District 9 of the state Board of Education, incumbent wingnut Don McLeroy lost narrowly to moderate Thomas Ratliff. Moderate Geraldine Miller lost in a surprise to George Clayton, though (although he says he wants books to be “agenda-free”). The balance of power between creationists and “moderates” (by Texas standards) on the SBOE may yet come down to a runoff in one other race, between Marsha Farney and Brian Russell.

Two other states had special elections in their state House of Representatives, with the Dems and GOP each holding seats they’d previously occupied. It was a nail-biter in Virginia’s HD-41 in suburban Fairfax County, where Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn prevailed by 42 votes over Republican Kerry Bolognese to keep the seat vacated by now-state Sen. Dave Marsden. (Theoretically, that was close enough for a recount, but the GOP won’t request one and Filler-Corn is being seated today.) In Connecticut, Republican Laura Hoydick defeated Democrat Janice Anderson to keep in GOP hands the seat vacated by Stratford’s new mayor John Harkins; the two will face off again in November.

11 thoughts on “Election Night Results Wrapup”

  2. He didn’t get it in 2008, and he finished behind Hurt in the vote totals last night. Ciro is getting so lucky.

    Carrillo isn’t the only example from last night. Harris County Tax-Assesor Collector Leo Vasquez was defeated in his primary by a large margin by a guy that claims he was tea baggin’ before tea baggin’ was cool. Granted Vasquez has a large share of controversy, but he should not have gotten blown out. Like Carrillo, he was appointed to be the incumbent.

    Texas Republicans have a brown problem.

    We’ll see about TX-17, I don’t really associate Flores as the obvious Hispanic name it is. Not sending off the bells like “Quico Canseco” does. Still, hoping for Curnock, seems a bit easier to take down.

    As for SBOE, Farney and Russell are both hard right creationists, this one will hinge on if they are defeated in the general (and this is the only seat this year where defeat is feasible, even though it is VERY unlikely). We’ll see how much attention we can draw to this down ballot race.

  4. Statement from Victor Carillo, the defeated RRC [emphasis my own]:

    Dear Family, Friends, Colleagues, Supporters: As you now surely know, last night I was defeated (61% / 39%) in my statewide Republican Primary by my opponent, David Porter. Porter, an unknown, no-campaign, no-qualification CPA from Midland residing in Giddings filed on the last day that he could file while I was waiting in Abilene to bury my dad. He has never held any elected office, has no geoscience, industry, or legal experience other than doing tax returns for oil and gas companies. I was handily defeated in spite of spending over $600,000 to do the following: 1) Distribute two direct mail pieces to almost 500,000 Republican primary households; 2) Run a 60-second radio spot on TX State Radio Network, supplemented by key conservative talk and Christian radio stations; 3) Run ads in several targeted newspapers; 4) RoboCalls to thousands of “Independent” households; 5) Distribute election push cards, website, Facebook page, bumper stickers, letter writing; 6) Actively campaign in-person by my campaign staff and me. Early polling showed that the typical GOP primary voter has very little info about the position of Railroad Commissioner, what we do, or who my opponent or I were. Given the choice between “Porter” and “Carrillo” – unfortunately, the Hispanic-surname was a serious setback from which I could never recover although I did all in my power to overcome this built-in bias. I saw it last time but was able to win because the “non-Carrillo” vote was spread among three Anglo GOP primary opponents instead of just one. Also, the political dynamics have changed some since 2004. Many of you have begun to call and/or write to express your concern over the whole situation. You are correct to be concerned over the fact that the GOP (our party) still has these tendencies to not be able to elect or retain highly qualified candidates who WANT to continue serving the public as I do. It is indeed a shame. Nevertheless, I refuse to walk away in shame because I know that my team and I did just about all we could have done to ensure that the primary electorate knew of my qualifications, expertise, and experience. The rest was beyond my control. I also urge party leaders to not alienate the Hispanic/Latino voter in Texas, as we now comprise about 39% of the population and we remain the fastest-growing minority group in the nation. However, none of you should be concerned about me and my family or my staff. Justin, my dedicated chief of staff and former student, gave up an excellent position to come back to help me through a most difficult time in my personal life with regard to my health and campaign. He remains a trusted friend and advisor and I will do all I can to ensure that he and his dear family are well positioned to allow his true, full potential to shine. As for me and my family, I have learned much over the last several months of personal tragedy – after my own brain surgery/recovery, the death of my half-brother at Thanksgiving, and the death of my Dad (my best friend) in January: THE SPECIFIC OUTCOME OF MY PATH IN LIFE IS NOT IN MY CONTROL, BUT WHOLLY IN THE MERCIFUL HANDS OF MY LORD & SAVIOR. HE, BEING SOVEREIGN, KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR ME & HE ALONE REMAINS IN FULL CONTROL! AS FOR ME, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL! So please don’t fret over my situation! God has known my path from before the beginning of time and He guides my path and I am fully confident that He will work things out for His ultimate glory! I do, however, seek your continued prayers for my wife (Joy) and my daughters (Laura, Christina, Grace), that they not overly worry about our future. I also covet your ongoing prayers for my 86-year old mother (Alicia), who continues to grieve the loss of her firstborn son and my dad within a six-week time period. Sincerely, Victor Carrillo

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