The latest 2010 elections news from The Texas Tribune.
When the Legislature convenes in January, more than three-dozen new members will take their seats in the Texas House — almost all of them Republicans, and many as surprised to be there as you’ll be to see them. Here’s a freshman facebook to help you keep them straight. Full Story
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Tuesday's elections gave Republicans a nearly two-thirds majority in the Texas House — and, with it, the power to do just about whatever they want in the next legislative session. But as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the party faithful are battling over who should lead the lower chamber. Full Story
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In this post-election TribCast, Evan, Elise and Ben look back on the election year that was and discuss Gov. Rick Perry's political future and the implications of the massive Republican landslide in the Texas House. Full Story
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Republican Dan Neil, who lost to Democratic Rep. Donna Howard in Tuesday's HD-48 election by a mere 15 votes, released a statement tonight saying he's going to wait for every legal vote to be "received and counted" before he decides his next course of action — namely, whether to ask for a recount. Full Story
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"I can swim against the stream and have done so repeatedly, but I can't swim against a tidal wave," he says. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry addresses hundreds of supporters in Buda after voters re-elected him to an unprecedented third full term in office. Hitting on a familiar theme, Perry said Texans were "tired of big government" and "fed up" with Washington's intrusion into their daily lives. Full Story
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As Gov. Rick Perry won another four years in office last night and his Democratic challenger, Bill White, conceded defeat, both men hinted at what they might do next. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports. Full Story
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After it became clear that the early returns were against him, Bill White called on Democratic voters to support Gov. Rick Perry. “All our elected leaders, including our national leadership, deserve respect,” he said. Full Story
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A fire in August that destroyed thousands of electronic voting machines in Houston prolonged the release of Harris County voting totals. Despite the delay, election officials expect to decide close races early Wednesday morning. But the outcome of one hotly contested race is known: Bill White defeated Rick Perry in his home county by a margin of less than 2 percent. Full Story
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While Democrats across the state have been falling all night, District Attorney Craig Watkins survived a re-election battle against Republican Danny Clancy in Dallas County. Full Story
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House Speaker Joe Straus says he's got 122 votes for another term as speaker — in spite of the fact that at least a dozen of his past supporters were defeated in Tuesday's election. Full Story
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There weren't any surprises in the races for the highest courts: All Republican incumbents won. Full Story
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Rick Perry won his third full term as governor of Texas on Tuesday, defeating former Houston Mayor Bill White by a convincing double-digit margin and positioning himself for a role on the national stage. And he led a Republican army that swept all statewide offices for the fourth election in a row, took out three Democratic U.S. congressmen and was on its way to a nearly two-thirds majority in the Texas House — a mark the GOP hasn't seen since the days following the Civil War. Full Story
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With 672 of 737 precincts in Dallas County reporting, the race for district attorney remains close. Incumbent District Attorney Craig Watkins, a Democrat, is leading challenger Danny Clancy, a Republican defense lawyer, by less than 1 percentage point, 50.45 percent to 49.55 percent. Full Story
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“To those who supported me, please recognize that every governor of our state deserves respect," Bill White told the ballroom crowd at the Hilton Americas in Houston. Full Story
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In the race for Harris County judge, Republican Ed Emmett is leading Democrat Gordon Quan by 26 points with 9 percent of precincts reporting. In the race for Nueces County district attorney, Democrat Mark Skurka is leading Republican Anna Jimenez by 7 points. Gov. Rick Perry appointed Jimenez, then a prosecutor in the DA’s child victims unit, as district attorney in March to replace Carlos Valdez. Skurka, who spent 10 years as chief prosecutor and another 10 years as first assistant district attorney, is vying for the final two years of Valdez’s unexpired term. In the race for Tarrant County Probate Court No. 2, Republican Judge Pat Ferchill is leading with 85 percent of the vote, with 11.8 percent of precincts reporting. Ferchill, who has come under fire for holding secret hearings to take child-guardianship rights away from families, is up against Libertarian Bob Shelton. Ferchill recently recused himself from a case in which a disabled girl’s parents had their guardianship rights taken away because they opposed a group home’s reliance on psychiatric medication. The judge who received the motion to re-hear the case postponed a scheduled October hearing last week, citing Ferchill’s upcoming election. Full Story
State Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco, a Democratic leader and a difficult target for Republicans, was handily defeated by political novice Marva Beck of Centerville. Full Story
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Rick Perry and the other statewide Republicans are on their way to easy wins over their challengers and opponents. Republican judicial candidates for statewide positions are winning easily. Four Democrats in the Texas congressional delegation are either behind or have been defeated: Chet Edwards (who conceded earlier this evening to Bill Flores), Ciro Rodriguez, Solomon Ortiz, and Lloyd Doggett. In incomplete returns, there are 22 Democratic incumbents running behind in Texas House races: Stephen Frost, Mark Homer, Jim McReynolds, Solomon Ortiz Jr., Abel Herrero, Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles, Patrick Rose, Donna Howard, Diana Maldonado, Jim Dunnam, Joe Moody, Joe Heflin, Paula Pierson, Chris Turner, Robert Miklos, Carol Kent, Kirk England, Allen Vaught, David McQuade Leibowitz, Kristi Thibaut, Ellen Cohen, and Hubert Vo. The GOP's high-water mark (post-Reconstruction) was 88 members in the Texas House. The GOP would have to pick up 12 seats tonight to match that. They've already got one — David Farabee, D-Wichita Falls, didn't seek reelection and former Mayor Lanham Lyne is running away with that race. And maybe this tells you more about the night than anything else: No incumbent Republicans in state office are currently running behind. Full Story
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Republicans are well ahead in the results for six of seven races for the State Board of Education. The contests are closely watched due to the board's controversial efforts to amend the content allowed in school textbooks earlier this year. In one of the most-watched races, in the Austin area, Republican Marsha Farney leads her Democratic opponent, Judy Jennings, by 59 percent to 28 percent with 30 percent of the vote counted. In a second closely watched race, in the San Antonio area, the Republican incumbent Ken Mercer leads Democratic challenger Rebecca Bell-Metereau 61 percent to 35 percent with 27 percent of the vote counted. In District 1, the Democratic incumbent Rene Nuñez trails Republican challenger Carlos Garza by 42 percent to 58 percent, with 33 percent of the vote counted. Full Story
In what's becoming an increasingly obvious Republican sweep in the Texas House, 22 Democratic incumbents are behind in their races. Full Story
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