Just a dash of WTF (statewide races)

But a lot of SMH.  The no-surprises:

-- Wendy Davis, John Cornyn, and Greg Abbott.

There was no discernible effort by TeaBagger Country to send a statement in the top races on the Republican ticket. They saved their best for down-ballot.

The OMGs:

-- David "Money to Burn" Alameel led the field with 50%+ in early returns but finished at 47, pushed into a May runoff with Impeacha Rogers, who got 22%.  This is worse than a disaster for Democrats.  I can vote for Emily "Spicybrown" Sanchez (and I hope a lot of Latino Democrats in the RGV do the same) with a clean conscience, unlike Gadfly.

-- Dan Patrick (R-LG) over The Dew 41-28, Ken Paxton (R-AG) leading Dan Branch 44-33, Glenn Hegar (R-Compt.) apparently beating Harvey Hilderbrand and Debra Medina without a runoff (Update: or maybe there will be a runoff), Jim Hogan (D-Ag Commish) ahead of Kinky Friedman 39-38, and Sid Miller (R-Ag Commish) besting a field of five with 35% but in a runoff with Tommy Merritt.

Dan Patrick led nearly every urban county. He steamrolled Dewhurst and will finish him off in May. For comparison's sake, Dewhurst led Ted Cruz 45-34 in 2012's US Senate primary, and Cruz won the runoff with 56-43.  Dewhurst actually lost almost two percentage points in the runoff.

Paxton and Branch are both North Texas statewide legislators, one (Paxton) slightly more socially conservative than the other (Branch).  Both spent heavily on TV ads and sent ultra-RWNJ Barry Smitherman to the sidelines.

"Guns" Hegar's TV ads paid off and embarrassed the TexTrib's poll badly.

"No Name Means Everything" Jim Hogan, who raised no money and spent less than $5K of his own -- but none of it on a website -- led The Kinkster into a runoff for the Democratic nomination for Agriculture Commissioner.  The best candidate in the race, Hugh Fitzsimons, ate their dust.  It gets worse, however, because...

Sid Miller, who authored the sonogram law, who pulls his quarter horses behind his truck -- and not inside a trailer -- and who has Ted Nugent as his campaign manager, leads the Republican side for ag commissioner.

I'll be proudly voting for the Green, Kenneth Kendrick, in November no matter which of these exceptional blue and red morons prevails in the spring.

-- Last, Wayne "I am the Most" Christian leads Ryan Sitton into a runoff for Railroad Commission on the Republican side, 43-31.  State Impact notes that like so many other Republicans in contested primaries, they ran on an anti-Obama platform and not oil and gas issues.  And in a nutshell, that's why my friend Prairie Weather misses the mark here.  You can't understand Texas politics by reading DC and NY media.  Update: Talking Points Memo does seem to get the nuances in the TXGOP dynamic (but that's because Ed Kilgore wrote it).  And Booman has his take on both Kilgore's and John Fund's reaction to yesterday.  Note this at the very end.

Kilgore notes that even insofar as the Establishment had a decent night, they accomplished it by moving (or being pulled) to the right. How that works in detail depends on the issue you're concerned with. When a candidate has merely given lip service to a radical position, that's one thing. When they've felt compelled to make radical pledges and promises, that's another.

The Republican Establishment in Texas may remain distinguishable from the howling horde in some substantive ways, but the way they present themselves to the nation is now just plain frightening.

The GOP's biggest delegation looks and sounds just like Louie Gohmert. The smarter ones look and sound just like Ted Cruz.

That's going to be a problem for the national party going forward.

Charles and Ted have more, and some Harris County results coming up in a moment.

Election returns are going to outlast me

With Travis County holding their polls open until 9 pm, and with Clerk Stanart already warning he's going to be slow with Harris County, I'm going to leave analysis of the results to the experts who are night owls.  See y'all in the morning -- if I'm not still exhausted, that is.  In the meantime, here's a few toons (with the first two overheard at a GOP watch party tonight)...

The Day Before Election Day Wrangle

The Texas Progressive Alliance is delighted to see marriage equality take another big step forward as we bring you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff examines the past performance of UT/Texas Trib polls in statewide Demorcatic primaries and finds it wanting.

As the Uber rideshare program (and all its politics) comes to Houston, George and Horwitz at Texpatriate take different sides on the issue; one in favor, one against.

After a recent visit to the Natural State, Texas Leftist has discovered that Arkansas' 'private option' alternative to Medicaid expansion is a rousing success. So successful in fact, it seems only natural that dysfunctional GOP politicians would try to kill it. Are they really willing to kick one hundred thousand people (and counting) off of their health plans?

WCNews at Eye on Williamson reminds us that the Texas GOP holds all the power in Texas and therefore Everything That's Wrong with Texas is the Texas GOP's Fault.

It's a good thing that Greg Abbott doesn't comprehend the damage he's doing to his chances to get elected, observes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. And as long as Abbott continues not getting it, Ted Nugent is going to be the gift that keeps on giving.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why Greg Abbott's campaign publicly endorses Ted Nugent's views.

Neil at All People Have Value posted about the brave and hopeful man who interrupted arguments at the Supreme Court to speak up in opposition to Citizens United. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

John Coby has Greg Abbott's next apology all ready for him.

The Texas Green Report updates us on the Sierra Club's litigation against industrial polluters.

Offcite looks at your cancer risk in Houston.

The Lunch Tray reports that a growing number of Congressional Republicans are seeking to gut the 2010 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

The Inanity of Sanity mocks the latest video smear attempt by James O'Keefe, this time against Battleground Texas.

TFN Insider awaits an apology to teachers from Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst now that their accusations about CSCOPE have proven to be utterly groundless.

Grits explains again why more security cameras do not equal more security.