The 2014 primary season ends (Sept. 9: DE, MA, NH, NY, RI)

[Miles]

Bowie County is taking forever to report; 29 of its 36 precincts are still out.

Lavander is losing 56/44 but getting 57% in Bowie. He could still hang on with the rest of the county.

[Miles]

And there it is. All of Bowie is in.

Lavender only got 53% in the county, not enough to save him. He gets booted 54-46 from his State House seat.

Fritsch only took 6% there.

[Morning in Atlas]

Does anyone know why Fritsch is doing so well in Bowie County?

Is she from Texarkana? Her website says she's from East Texas but doesn't seem to specify where.

Tyler - close by, but still weird.

[Indy Texas]

LiteGuv map is forthcoming. Looks like Patrick's first place finish was due to his strong showing in the urban/suburban Houston and DFW counties that make up such a large share of the GOP primary vote.

Dewhurst did best in the small cities and rural areas in West Texas and the Panhandle. Not a lot of votes there.

Staples did well in his native Piney Woods but couldn't break out of that region.

Jerry Patterson was also on the ballot.

[Indy Texas]

More proof of how polarized the two parties are...the ballot propositions...

For the Democrats:

Prop 1 - Immigration Reform
87% In Favor
13% Against

Prop 2 - A living wage for all Texans
89% In Favor
11% Against

Prop 3 - Medicaid Expansion
89% In Favor
11% Against

Prop 4 - Non-discrimination legislation
88% In Favor
12% Against

For the Republicans:

Prop 1 - Ability to freely express religious beliefs and prayer in public
97% In Favor
3% Against

Prop 2 - Expand locations to carry concealed handguns
87% In Favor
13% Against

Prop 3 - Abolish the state franchise tax to encourage business growth
89% In Favor
11% Against

Prop 4 - Drug testing for welfare recipients to receive benefits
95% In Favor
5% Against

Prop 5 - Elected officials and staff subject to same laws as constituents
99% In Favor
1% Against

Prop 6 - Repeal the Affordable Care Act
93% In Favor
7% Against

[smoltchanov]

Better night for the Tea Party this year than in 2012.

Moderate Republican State Rep. Ralph Sheffield (Temple) loses to TP challenger.

State Sen. Kel Seliger (Amarillo) barely hanging on against TP challenger.

Don Huffines narrowly leads incumbent John Carona in Dallas senate seat race.

Tea Party State Rep. Jonathan Stickland (Ft. Worth) has comfortable lead over Establishment challenger Andy Cargile.

Ken Paxton leads Dan Branch in AG race with run-off more or less inevitable.

IMHO - not very surprising. Turnout always drops in midterms, and the more he drops - the more "activist" becomes primary electorate. In case of Texas Republicans - even more right-wing...

P.S. Very bad weather in DFW metropolis probably "helped" too)))). Tea-partiers are much more "whether resistant". They are warmed from inside by burning ideological "passion"...

[Meeker]

So, by my count, there were two State Senators and seven State Representatives who lost or were forced into runoffs. Is that what others have?

[Vega]

So, by my count, there were two State Senators and seven State Representatives who lost or were forced into runoffs. Is that what others have?

I think that's all of them.

[Indy Texas]

So, by my count, there were two State Senators and seven State Representatives who lost or were forced into runoffs. Is that what others have?

Sen. Bob Deuell will go to a run-off with a Tea Partier. I like the guy - he's a doctor from East Texas and is a conservative but he's got so little patience with the Tea Party, he once mockingly asked on the Senate floor where the "black helicopters" were that they were so paranoid about.

Sen. John Carona lost to Don Huffines, who isn't really a Tea Party guy but played the conservative foil to the moderate Carona.

State Reps who lost: Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth), Naomi Gonzalez (D-El Paso), George Lavender (R-Texarkana), Lance Gooden (R-Terrell), Diane Patrick (R-Arlington), Ralph Sheffield (R-Temple), Linda Harper Brown (R-Irving), Bennett Ratliff (R-Coppell).

Diane Patrick and Linda Harper Brown were two of Speaker Straus's close allies and had targets on their backs for that reason. Ralph Sheffield is consistently named the most liberal/moderate Republican in the House by various conservative groups. Bennett Ratliff is also fairly moderate. I think local politics went into play with Gooden's race and I don't know what the problem with George Lavender was.

With the Dems, the El Paso delegation deserves its own reality show. You have Norma Chavez bullying members via text message, Naomi Gonzalez driving drunk, and so forth. Lon Burnam is basically a Tea Partier's stereotype of what all Democrats are like - he's a sanctimonious, elitist liberal and the fact that he's a white male makes it all even worse. He was heavy on commentary and light on legislative accomplishment.

[Tender Branson]

Next stop: Illinois (March 18)

[Vega]

Next stop: Illinois (March 18)

Those are more what I'm interested in.

Bruce Rauner hopefully wins.

[Tender Branson]

Next stop: Illinois (March 18)

IL Gov. results here:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2014/by_state/IL_Governor_0318.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS

IL statewide-related results here:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2014/by_state/IL_Page_0318.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS

[Mr. Illini]

Bruce Rauner hopefully wins.

Why?

[ElectionsGuy]

Besides the GOP primary for governor, there is another interesting thing to watch. In the 13th district former Miss America Erika Harold is taking on the republican incumbent. Anyone know her chances there?

[publicunofficial]

Besides the GOP primary for governor, there is another interesting thing to watch. In the 13th district former Miss America Erika Harold is taking on the republican incumbent. Anyone know her chances there?

She's raised f**k-all and hasn't come close in any poll I've seen.

The Democratic primary for IL-13 is much more interesting and close, but I'd give Ann Callis the edge.

There's also a competitive GOP primary in IL-11 as several candidates compete to see who gets to get slaughtered by Bill Foster come November.

[Mr. Illini]

Besides the GOP primary for governor, there is another interesting thing to watch. In the 13th district former Miss America Erika Harold is taking on the republican incumbent. Anyone know her chances there?

The district I go to school in. Her chances are slim, as Davis has significantly better name recognition in the district and has not done anything to upset GOP primary voters in his first term.

[Mr. Illini]

Interesting divide today between Illinois Republicans, mostly within the Tea Party. Strong fiscal conservatives and strong social conservatives, usually allies in the Tea Party, are splitting between Rauner (the fiscals) and Dillard (the socons). These two groups seem to usually be allied in calling moderates 'RINOs', but are now divided because of Rauner's strong fiscal conservatism but very moderate social record.

And the moderates just don't know who their candidate is at this point it seems, although Rauner is probably picking them up because of his social record.

[muon2]

A factor which should not be overlooked among IL Pubs is the frustration at feeling like they have had no voice in state government for over a decade and an utter distaste for the status quo over that period of time. The two leading candidates offer very different visions, Dillard harkens back to the last great GOP Gov of IL, Jim Edgar from the mid 90's, for whom Dillard was Chief of Staff. Rauner looks to a newer model of GOP success often quoting Walker, Daniels and to a lesser degree Snyder. Rauner has captured that frustrated base who want change and see the modern model as more attractive than the GOP Midwest of Edgar, Tommy Thompson, and John Engler.

[ElectionsGuy]

Polls are closed.

[publicunofficial]

Supposedly a bit of D crossover votes for Dillard. I'm guessing that they think Quinn is going to lose anyway, so why not get the most liberal Republican?

[muon2]

Supposedly a bit of D crossover votes for Dillard. I'm guessing that they think Quinn is going to lose anyway, so why not get the most liberal Republican?

Dillard's actually quite conservative socially, though not as much as Brady. The difference for Dems is that Dillard's not anti-union.

[ElectionsGuy]

2% in

Rauner: 49%
Dillard: 35%
Brady: 12%
Rutherford: 5%

Quinn: 78%
Hardiman: 22%

Looks like Quinn might win handily. Rauner got a decent lead with a 2% sample.

[muon2]

2% in

Rauner: 49%
Dillard: 35%
Brady: 12%
Rutherford: 5%

Quinn: 78%
Hardiman: 22%

Looks like Quinn might win handily. Rauner got a decent lead with a 2% sample.

Lake County is the main portion of that with some Cook and a smattering of other counties.

[Flake]

7.5% in, only Lake and Cook County have voted, so I expect Quinn to do worse as the night goes on.

http://www.politico.com/2014-election/results/map/governor/illinois/#.UyjmxPldUSM

[Flake]

Cumberland County (8% reporting) has 88% of the vote for Hardiman and 12% for Quinn.