Texas Republicans picked the state's attorney general in the fight to succeed longtime Gov. Rick Perry, while a rising Democratic star coasted to her party's nomination Tuesday night during the nation's first statewide primary.
Warnings about Democrat Wendy Davis' star-making run for Texas governor threatening two decades of Republican dominance dealt complacent conservatives a new reason to vote. So did a rare opportunity to select an entirely new stable of leaders after 14 years under Perry.
Perry's decision to not seek re-election launched a stampede of 26 Republican candidates vying for six of Texas' top offices. Among them was George P. Bush, the 37-year-old nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who easily won the nomination for land commissioner in his political debut.
In the first primary since Ted Cruz barreled into the U.S. Senate in 2012 and yanked Republicans nationwide farther right, Texas candidates willingly went along. U.S. Sen John Cornyn, who didn't get an endorsement from his fellow Texas senator, routed his primary challenger.
"I say they are not going far right enough," said Marlin Robinson, 56, after casting his primary ballot in Houston. "They need to go farther right, as far as I'm concerned because I'm tired of this liberal crap that's running this country."
Attorney General Greg Abbott clinched the Republican nomination for governor and Davis locked up her party's selection, thereby making official a showdown poised to become a record-shattering arms race of fundraising in a Texas gubernatorial election.
i i