Mar
3
Written by:
William Lutz
3/3/2010 12:15 AM
As of this writing, it looks like incumbent Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo was defeated in the Republican Primary by David Porter. It also appears like incumbent Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman won over Rose Vela. Meanwhile on the Democratic side, former AFL-CIO officer Linda Chavez-Thompson appears to have won the lieutenant governor's primary outright. It appears Hank Gilbert has won the Democratic primary for Agriculture Commissioner. The Democratic land commission primary between Bill Burton and Hector Uribe may still be too close to call.
The Republican primary for the open Supreme Court seat is way too close to call. Former Rep. Rick Green (Dripping Springs) appears to have the upper hand in making one of the runoff slots, though even Green is about a percent and a half above his closest challengers. For the second runoff slot, there is a close contest between Jim Moseley, Debra Lehrmann, and Rebecca Simmons.
For Republicans, the loss of Victor Carrillo is a major blow. Republicans have tried to get more Hispanics to run as Republicans, but many Hispanic candidates have a hard time winning the primary. In a similar vein, Felipe Reyna lost the 10th Court of Appeals Race in Waco to Al Scoggins. Though at least with the Reyna-Scoggins race, there was another factor -- tort reform -- most of the major tort reform groups that backed Reyna in 2004 swiched to Scoggins this time. (It is fascinating, however, how the statewide leadership went after former Supreme Court Justice Steven Wayne Smith for opposing the Hispanic candidate, but there are not similar recriminations in this case.)
For Democrats, they are getting the statewide ticket they want. White at the top of the ticket with a Hispanic candidate as their lieutenant governor candidate to help with turnout. That said, the work with the AFL-CIO will likely be used as a camapign issue by Republicans who will link her to President Barack Obama and the card-check bill loathed by business that the AFL-CIO is pushing.