Primary Results. I’ll have a postmortem later in the day focusing more on local races. Statewide, it’s now clear Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t really face a serious challenger. Tea partier Allen West came closest, with 12.27 percent of the vote, but the governor pulled away with 66.61 percent. That’s enough to miss the runoff. Beto O’Rourke will predictably challenge him from the Democratic side. Turnout was much higher for the Republican gubernatorial race, which attracted 800,000 more voters than the Dems. Elsewhere: Attorney General Ken Paxton, who remains under indictment for securities fraud, is headed to a runoff with George P. Bush. Paxton earned 42.66 percent of the vote compared to Bush’s 22.8 percent. For the Democrats, attorney Rochelle Garza has a healthy lead and will face either former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski or civil rights attorney Lee Merritt in a runoff. Jaworski is up 19.6 percent to Merritt’s 19.3 percent. For county judge, incumbent Clay Jenkins cruised to the nomination. It appears he’ll face business owner Lauren Davis, who beat out Dallas ISD Trustee Edwin Flores for the Republican nod. Down the ballot, the redrawn District 2 commissioners court race will head to a runoff between Democrats Andrew Sommerman and Michelle Ocker. (Former Councilman Philip Kingston came in third. 👀) Incumbent J.J. Koch ran unopposed on the Republican side. Results trickled in overnight, which spurred Mayor Eric Johnson to tweet: “Waiting up all night to see who won these elections is ridiculous to be doing in 2022!” As of this morning, about 99 percent of the voting centers in the county have responded.
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