The Tea Party and grassroots conservatives have come back to life from the dead more times than any of us can count. The media keeps missing the point; whenever our candidates can raise money and get their message out to the voters before they are defined by the smear machine, they will win every time. And especially in Texas, where we have done a better job getting out the message, things are looking pretty grim for our opponents. Here are some highlights from tonight:
- The biggest news of the night was John Ratcliffe unseating Rep. Ralph Hall, the dean of the House, in TX-4. Ratcliffe is rock solid, particularly on immigration. During his time as U.S. Attorney, Ratcliffe coordinated the arrest of 300 illegal immigrants in one day and prosecuted many of them for identity theft and Social Security fraud. We need a strong voice for our side on the Judiciary Committee. There is no Democrat opponent, so he is de factor congressman-elect.
- David Dewhurst, the sitting Lieutenant Governor for over a decade, was crushed by Dan Patrick 65%-35%. This is nothing short of spectacular. Ken Paxton, the more conservative candidate for Attorney General, won by almost the same margin.
- In the state legislative races, Ted Cruz-backed Konni Burton crushed the establishment choice for senate in district 10. It also appears that incumbent Bob Deuell has gone down in the east Dallas district. There were no clear establishment pickups in either house of the legislature.
- About 740,000 voters turned out for the GOP runoff at the top of the ticket; roughly 180,000 turned out for the Democrat runoffs statewide. #TurnTexasBlue