Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst endangered: Texas state executive primary elections review
March 5, 2014
| March 4, 2014 Primary Recap |
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By Garrett Fortin
The 2014 Texas primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. It was a very busy primary election; just among the seven state executive offices and ten competitive primaries, there were thirty-five state executive candidates. Altogether, Texans cast over a million votes in the Republican primary and over half a million in the Democratic primary.
The most noteworthy outcome was in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor. The incumbent Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was not only forced into a runoff with State Senator Dan Patrick but he finished in second place, with 28% to Patrick's 42%. If Dewhurst fails to win the runoff on May 27, there will be no incumbents running for any Texas statewide executive office in the general election.
| Texas Lieutenant Gubernatorial Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Dan Patrick |
41.4% | 552,692 | ||
| David Dewhurst Incumbent |
28.3% | 377,856 | ||
| Todd Staples | 17.8% | 236,949 | ||
| Jerry Patterson | 12.5% | 166,399 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,333,896 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
Texas Governor
- See also: Texas gubernatorial election, 2014
The primaries for Texas Governor went as expected, with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and State Senator Wendy Davis wrapping up their contests early in the night with unassailable leads. Greg Abbott received the most votes of any candidate last night, besting incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn's haul with well over one million votes.[1]
Texas Lieutenant Governor
The Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor was unopposed. State Senator Leticia Van de Putte is left to wonder whether her Republican opponent in the general will be current incumbent David Dewhurst or State Senate colleague Dan Patrick.
Texas Attorney General
- See also: Texas attorney general election, 2014
The Republican primary for Texas Attorney General resulted in a runoff between Ken Paxton and Dan Branch. In the Democratic primary, attorney Sam Houston was uncontested.
| Texas Attorney General Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Ken Paxton |
44.5% | 569,034 | ||
| Dan Branch |
33.4% | 428,034 | ||
| Barry Smitherman | 22.1% | 282,701 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,279,769 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
Texas down ballot offices
- Comptroller
The Republican primary for Texas Comptroller is the night's only unsettled race. State Senator Glenn Hegar finds himself about seventy-five votes shy of the 50% mark that would allow him to skip the runoff. With four precincts and 0.05% of the vote left to report, it is impossible to guess the outcome. Second-place candidate Harvey Hilderbran will be hoping for a runoff but wondering what chance he has to close the margin. In either case, unopposed Democratic primary winner Mike Collier awaits in the general.
| Texas Comptroller Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Glenn Hegar |
50% | 612,269 | ||
| Harvey Hilderbran | 26% | 318,899 | ||
| Debra Medina | 19.3% | 236,531 | ||
| Raul Torres | 4.6% | 56,937 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,224,636 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
- Land Commissioner
Jeb Bush's son George P. Bush easily beat his opponent in the Republican primary and will face unopposed Democratic primary winner John Cook in the general.
- Agriculture Commissioner
The most packed state executive primary race has weeded its eight candidates down to four. The Republican primary will be decided by a runoff between Sid Miller and Tommy Merritt. In the Democratic primary, Jim Hogan and Richard "Kinky" Friedman go into their own runoff with no clear front-runner.
| Texas Agriculture Commissioner Democratic Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Jim Hogan |
38.7% | 190,090 | ||
| Richard "Kinky" Friedman |
37.7% | 185,180 | ||
| Hugh Asa Fitzsimons, III | 23.5% | 115,395 | ||
| Total Votes | 490,665 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
- Railroad Commissioner
The Republican primary resulted in a runoff between leader Wayne Christian and second-place Ryan Sitton. Across the aisle, Steve Brown won a two-way race to secure the Democratic nomination.
| Texas Railroad Commissioner Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Wayne Christian |
42.7% | 503,634 | ||
| Ryan Sitton |
30.5% | 360,125 | ||
| Becky Berger | 16.8% | 198,672 | ||
| Malachi Boyuls | 10% | 117,511 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,179,942 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
See also
- Texas state executive elections (overview):
External links
Footnotes
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