AUSTIN (Legal Newsline) – Two longtime Texas politicians lost their bid for re-election Tuesday, as incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Congressman Ralph Hall were defeated in the Republican primary runoff election.
Dewhurst, who lost by a double-digit margin to state Sen. Dan Patrick in the March 4 primary, landed 261,313 votes for 34.92 percent in yesterday’s runoff.
Patrick, a Houston conservative radio host, captured 486,880 votes for 65.07 percent of the total vote. To win the lieutenant governor's seat, he faces state Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, in the November election.
The race for Texas’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives was slightly more contested, as Hall came up 2,376 votes shy of beating U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe.
Hall, who at the age of 91 is the oldest U.S. congressman, was originally a member of the Democratic Party before switching alliances in 2004.
In the Republican runoff for attorney general, state Sen. Ken Paxton defeated state Rep. Dan Branch by capturing 63 percent of the total vote.
Paxton will face plaintiffs attorney Sam Houston, a Democrat, in the Nov. 4 general election.
In the Republican runoff for commissioner of agriculture, Tommy Merritt fell to Sid Miller, who captured 53 percent of the total vote.
On the Democratic side, musician Richard “Kinky” Friedman lost to Jim Hogan. Hogan landed 100,369 votes for 53 percent to capture his party’s nomination for commissioner of agriculture.
In the Republican runoff for railroad commissioner, Wayne Christian lost to Ryan Sitton, who netted 57 percent of the total vote.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com.