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Republicans extend statewide streak to 16 years

George P. Bush, nephew of George W. Bush, will be the next Land Commissioner in Texas.
NPR

Texas Democrats maintained their 16-year losing streak on Tuesday night, with Republicans decisively sweeping all 15 statewide races on the ballot. 

Early returns showed Republicans leading by more than 20 percentage points in all of the statewide races. Texans have not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. 

The wins for the GOP included Republican George P. Bush — the Bush family heir who is widely expected to seek a higher office in four years. Bush easily won his bid for land commissioner against Democrat John Cook, a former El Paso mayor. With more than a quarter of precincts reporting, Bush was leading with 61 percent of the vote, or nearly 1.7 million votes. Bush’s father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was waiting with him at an election night watch party in downtown Austin along with governor-elect Greg Abbott.  

Among the statewide candidates, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn had the most commanding lead after early returns, with 62 percent of the vote against Democrat David Alameel's 35 percent.  

Democrats put up candidates in 12 of the 15 statewide races on the ballot. That included some down-ballot races in which they held out hope that the Republican candidate was vulnerable to a spirited challenge. 

In the race to replace Abbott as attorney general, Republican Ken Paxton trounced Democrat Sam Houston, leading 59 percent to 38 percent after early returns. Houston had tried to draw attention to his fledgling campaign by hammering Paxton on reports that Paxton had violated state securities law. The Texas State Securities Board fined Paxton $1,000 for failing to report he had acted as the unregistered representative of an investment adviser. 

Republican Glenn Hegar was also comfortably ahead in his bid to succeed Comptroller Susan Combs. Hegar was leading Democrat Mike Collier 59 percent to 38 percent. 

“As the next comptroller, I will not forget who my bosses are – hard-working taxpayers from across the state – and the duty they elected me to fulfill,” Hegar said in a statement. “Together, we will continue to stand up for the principles we believe in by making government more efficient, eliminating wasteful spending and putting more money back into the pockets of taxpayers.” 

Collier, a certified public accountant from Houston, ran one of the most aggressive campaigns among Democrats this year, going on television with ads earlier than most other candidates in the state and mocking Hegar’s background as a farmer in an online video that drew more than 36,000 views. 

Sid Miller, the former Republican state representative, had no trouble clinching his race for agriculture commissioner against Democrat Jim Hogan, who made headlines for investing virtually no time or money into his race. Miller had 59 percent of the vote early in the night, or almost 1.7 million votes. Despite the race he ran, Hogan was still claiming roughly 37 percent of the vote.   

Ryan Sitton, a mechanical engineer from the Houston area, cruised to victory over Democrat Steve Brown in the race for an open seat on the Texas Railroad Commission – the three-member panel that regulates oil and gas production. Sitton, who has touted his industry experience, will help oversee an oil and gas boom unseen in 30 years, and some of the environmental and property rights squabbles it has spurred. 

In an email blast to supporters, Sitton said he would do “everything in my power to make sure that Texas responsibly produces as much energy as we possibly can.” 

“With the right policies in place,” he added, “the massive growth in our energy production will continue, securing our national security, economic and geopolitical interests.” 

All the Republicans in the statewide court races won handily, and were leading Democrats by at least 20 percentage points after early returns. Lawrence Edward Meyers, a judge on the statewide Court of Criminal Appeals who switched parties from Republican to Democrat in December 2013, was losing by 24 percentage points in his bid to unseat Republican Jeff Brown on the Texas Supreme Court. Meyers was elected to the statewide Court of Criminal Appeals as a Republican in 1992. 

Bobby Blanchard, Neena Satija and Jim Malewitz contributed to this story. 

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/11/04/republicans-extend-statewide-streak-16-years/.