After winning the GOP Primary 60-40 percent, Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) announced his resignation less than a week following the election.

"Your vote of confidence last Tuesday, election day, was most gratifying.  I am humbled by your support," Averitt said, in a press statement.  "Now, the time has come for me to step down."

Averitt indicated he would resign as of midday March 17, allowing Gov. Rick Perry to call a special election for May 8 to fill his seat.

A press release from the Van Taylor campaign informs us that Wayne Richard, a former candidate in the three-way race for HD 66 (Brian McCall's open seat), has endorsed Taylor in the runoff.

Taylor, a Marine Reservist and investment banker, took 33.5 percent of the vote on Tuesday to former Plano City Council member Mabrie Jackson's 41 percent. Richard was edged out of the runoff after taking 25.5 percent of the vote, placing third. The Taylor campaign's press release said that Richard's base of support should remain through April and put Taylor over the top.

A relatively low-key opponent beat incumbent Railroad Commissioner Victor Carrillo in the Republican Primary by 61-39 percent. Though primary winner David Porter told several sources that he believes Carrillo got caught up in a massive movement against incumbents, Carrillo had some other thoughts -- namely that his ethnicity had something to do with it.

We post Carrillo's letter to supporters below ...

It was everything opponents could have been saying about Gov. Rick Perry all along but didn't.

Boyd Richie, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, hosted a press conference this morning at party headquarters to review the winners of last night's Democratic primary and to promote their candidacies.

"Rick Perry doesn't do things the Texas way," Richie said, launching an immediate attack against the presumptive GOP nominee. "Because instead of meeting tough challenges and solving problems, Rick Perry's the one who brought divisive, Washington-style politics to our state -- it's partisanship and politics all the time, every day, 24/7. ...

The Texas Republican House Committee is keeping tabs on the likely runoffs in state rep races at their Web site.

The runoff is set for April 13. Undecided GOP House races and races going into runoff mode include ...
 

With 60 percent of the precincts reporting in the GOP Primary, Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court looks destined for a runoff between Rebecca Simmons and Rick Green -- though it's still a bit too close to call, with only a couple hundred votes between the top-placing candidates.

Simmons holds the lead at 10:40 p.m. with 18.31 percent, followed by former radio show host and legislator Green at 18.7 percent. Longtime DFW-area Republican and judge Jim Moseley is in third right now with 18.1 percent, followed by Debra Lehrmann at 17.5 percent, Jeff Brown at 16.8 percent, and Rick Strange at 10.7 percent.

It may be a long night to see how the six-way race turns out, but it looks like in Place 9 Eva Guzman has edged out Rose Vela 64-36 percent.

Several news sources are reporting that U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison has conceded the election to incumbent Gov. Rick Perry, who (by 9:53 p.m.) has 51 percent of the vote.

Hutchison is sitting at 31 percent, with Debra Medina at about 18. About 41 percent of precincts (a total of 13,023,358 votes statewide) have reported.

Congratulatory remarks are starting to come in. And, without even a few moments to bask in the (currently default) victory, Perry's allies are already going after the Democratic front-runner. ...

Republican incumbent Chuck Hopson should enjoy a run-off free ride to November, if early vote totals and the first wave of precinct totals hold steady. The Jacksonville Republican captured about 71 percent in Houston and Rusk counties, 41 percent in Panola County and 54 percent of the vote in Cherokee County.  In total, Hopson has picked up 5,616 of a total of 9,515 votes between the four counties.

He is opposed by Michael Banks and Allan Cain. Cain is pulling between 10 and 15 percent, with the exception of Panola County -- his home -- where he trumped Hopson with 54 percent. Banks is getting between 5 percent (Panola County) and 16 percent (Houston County), making him the likely third-place candidate.

It appears longtime incumbent Delwin Jones, who represents the multi-county rural District 83, may have a hard time averting a runoff according to early vote results and a smattering election day totals.

Jones (R-Lubbock) is pulling anywhere from 38-47 percent (a total of 6,362 votes in each of the counties) in a three-way race against challengers Zach Brady and Charles Perry. Should a runoff emerge, then either Brady (pulling 23-36 percent -- a total of 4,626 votes in all the counties total) and Perry (19-35 percent, or 5,387 votes total) could represent a lion's share of the anti-Jones vote and oust the veteran legislator.

It looks close in a couple of the embattled State Board of Education districts, as conservative incumbents have been fighting off challengers who may prefer a more pro-secular approach toward public education and curriculua. At first glance (around 8:15 p.m.) ...

District 9: This is the tightest contest, with incumbent Don McLeroy with 49.72 percent, with Thomas Ratliff right in front with 50.27 percent. McLeroy has been the target of groups upset with a social conservative trend on the SBOE, and it looks like the fight to unseat him is paying off for his opponents. ...