Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, lost his primary to former Judge Tryon Lewis.
In most legislative races, votes are still being counted. But incumbent West's race is over. Lewis got 72 percent of the vote, with all the votes counted. West told colleagues last year he wouldn't be returning, then changed in his mind (a dire health report brightened) and decided to seek reelection. By then, he had three opponents, and he ran second coming into the runoff.
In races to replace district attorneys in Harris and Travis Counties, Pat Lykos and Rosemary Lehmberg won their respective primary runoffs.
In Harris County, Lykos, a former judge, out-polled assistant DA Siegler in the race for the GOP nomination for district attorney. Lykos got 52.7 percent in final and unofficial returns. The winner will face former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford. And all of them are running to replace scandal-plagued former DA Chuck Rosenthal. Short take: Siegler was an assistant to Rosenthal and paid for that proximity; Lykos ran as an outsider to the office.
In Travis County, where Democratic primary voters will choose the next district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg got 65.2 percent of the vote against Mindy Montford. Both are assistant district attorneys to DA Ronnie Earle, who decided not to seek another term. Short take: Lehmberg accused Montford of being too close to the lobby and to Republican donors in a job where policing the Capitol is part of the assignment and in a primary where elephants aren't welcome. Montford said Lehmberg was getting her support, in part, from criminal defense attorneys who regularly do battle with the county's prosecutors.
Complete returns....
In the only statewide primary of the night — the Democratic battle for Railroad Commission — political novice Mark Thompson outran Dale Henry, who was making a third run for a job on that regulatory panel. Thompson got 59.2 percent of the vote, and will challenge Republica incumbent Michael Williams.
Voters chose challengers for two members of Congress. In Dallas' CD-32, Eric Roberson beat Steve Love, with 72.5 percent of the vote. He will face U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, in November. And in CD-22 in the Houston-Sugar Land area, Pete Olson got 68.5 percent against Shelley Sekula Gibbs. Olson, a former Navy pilot and chief of staff to U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, was the favorite of Washington Republicans and the better of the two candidates for a general election race. Sekula Gibbs briefly held the seat after U.S. Majority Leader Tom DeLay resigned, and that bumpy tenure played against her. The winner will take on U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Stafford.
In Republican runoffs for the Texas House:
HD-52: In this Williamson County race, Bryan Daniel beat Dee Hobbs, winning 53.6 percent of the vote. The incumbent, Mike Krusee of Round Rock, didn't seek another term. Daniel will face Democrat Diana Maldonado in November.
HD-55: Ralph Sheffield beat Martha Tyroch, and convincingly: 63.5%—36.5%. The incumbent, Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, didn't seek reelection. That contest featured accusations that he went years with unpaid business taxes and that she overspent taxpayer funds on trips while a member of the Temple City Council. He'll face Democrat Sam Murphey in November.
HD-81: Rep. Buddy West of Odessa lost his reelection bid to Tryon Lewis, also of Odessa. That's a final but unofficial result. Lewis got 5,171 votes to West's 1,631. That puts Lewis in the House, in all likelihood: His only remaining opponent is Libertarian Elmo Hockman.
HD-112: Angie Chen Button, with 53.2 percent, defeated former Garland City Councilman Randy Dunning. That's the race to replace Rep. Fred Hill, R-Richardson. Still ahead: Democrat Sandra Phuog VuLe of Garland.
HD-144: With all the votes counted, Ken Legler held onto a 101-vote lead over Fred Roberts in the race to replace Robert Talton, R-Pasadena. Legler had 51.6 percent, but that might be close enough to prompt a recount request. Legler actually ran second on Election Day, but had racked up enough early votes to offset that and beat Roberts. The winner will meet Democrat Joel Redmond in November.
Dallas lawyer and former Judge Catharina Haynes won U.S. Senate confirmation to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, replacing Judge Harold Moss on that panel. She was most recently with Baker Botts, but serviced two terms as a state district judge before that.
Don Forse Jr. moves into the chief of staff job for Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, but he'll continue as communications director, too, at least for now. Forse replaces Todd Gallaher, who is under investigation for doing political work from his state computer. Forse has been with Deuell since 2003 and worked in the House before that.
Gov. Rick Perry named Karen Rankin of San Antonio the presiding officer at the Texas Veterans Commission and named Eliseo Cantu Jr. of Corpus Christi and John McKinney of El Paso to that board. Rankin is with Keywtone International. Cantu is a retired exec with Driscoll Children's Hospital. And McKinney is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army.
Perry named Brett Gilbert, an assistant business professor at Texas A&M University, to the Texas Emerging Technology Advisory Committee. She'll replace Elsa Murano, who's now the president of that university.
And the Guv named Allen Cline and Karen Siegel to the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners, which regulates that business. Cline is president of Turtle Dragon Health Services in Austin. Siegel's with the Acupuncture and Nutrition Clinic in Houston.