Apr
14
Written by:
William Lutz
4/14/2010 6:58 AM
When all was said and done on election night, two incumbents, Reps. Delwin Jones (R-Lubbock) and Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) went down. Incumbent Rep. Fred Brown (R-College Station) won re-election easily. The end result of this evening's runoff is the House will likely take a right turn headed into 2011.
In addition to Jones, who polled 42 percent in the runoff, Lubbock elected conservative John Frullo over establishment pick Mark Griffin 53-47. In Austin, Paul Workman narrowly defeated Holly Turner. Workman will face Rep. Valinda Bolton (D-Austin) in the general election. In Round Rock, Larry Gonzales beat former Williamson County GOP Chairman John Gordon by a 2-1 margin. Gonzales has strong support from the business community and was widely viewed as the stronger candidate against incumbent Diana Maldonado (D-Round Rock).
In Plano, conservative Van Taylor beat former Plano City council member Mabrie Jackson 57-43. Jackson was involved with the Texas Municipal League, which makes her position on taxes immediately suspect. Taylor largely self-funded his race. In Houston, Dan Huberty won easily over Susan Curling for the Joe Crabb open seat. Jack O'Connor narrowly beat Dianne Williams in a low-turnout runoff to face Rep. Hubert Vo (D-Houston).
Judge Debra Lehrmann narrowly defeated former Rep. Rick Green for the Supreme Court, 51-49, and Marsha Farney beat Brian Russell convincingly for the State Board of Education District 10 seat.
In El Paso, Chavez narrowly lost to Naomi Gonzalez, 53-47 in a high-dollar shootout between Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Trial Lawyers, with the TLR candidate coming out on top.
In the Congressional runoffs, Republican insiders will be happy that both Bill Flores and Quico Canseco won the runoffs. They are viewed in GOP circles as the stronger candidates against U.S. Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Waco) and Ciro Rodriguez (D-San Antonio), respectively.