(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, has a significant lead over eight challengers in his Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate. Allred appears to be the likely challenger of incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who handily won his Republican primary race.
Republican Christie Craddock is leading four challengers and expected to win her primary race for Texas Railroad Commissioner, which oversees the Texas oil and gas industry.
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee is leading in her Democratic primary race after losing her bid for Houston mayor in the November election.
In a major upset in Houston, incumbent Harris County Democrat District Attorney Kim Ogg was ousted by her challenger, Sean Teare.
Teare, who was largely funded by George Soros’ Texas Justice and Public Safety PAC, has vowed to implement soft on crime policies similar to those that have already been faulted for making crime worse in primarily Democratic-run cities.
Republican voters overwhelmingly passed all 13 propositions on the GOP ballot. Some include eliminating all property taxes; creating a Texas border protection unit; requiring employers to use E-Verify; ending subsidies and public services for illegal aliens; urging Congress not to grant amnesty to illegal aliens; prohibiting Texas National Guard soldiers from deploying overseas; restricting voting in the Republican primary to only registered Republicans; amending the Texas constitution to allow the Texas attorney general to prosecute election-related crimes and to require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Multiple state House races appear to be heading to a runoff election, including that of House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont. Phelan came under fire for leading the charge to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton. Multiple incumbent House Republicans were targeted this primary election by challengers based on two key issues: how they voted on Paxton impeachment and their support or opposition to school choice.
Many state House races appear to be too close to call with nearly 85% of counties reporting and 25% of polling locations reporting.
Polls showed that Republican primary voters were more likely to vote for a pro-school choice candidate and cared the most about endorsements made by Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump.
