Texas Primary Results (Update: It's a Runoff!)

Results from the Texas primary will appear in this post as numbers come in.  The two largest questions have to do with the presidential and senate races: Will Romney get above 70% of the vote, which is the percentage he will probably need to clinch the GOP nomination tonight? And, will the GOP senate primary result in a clear victory for the front-running Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst or will the Tea Party, Sarah Palin endorsed Ted Cruz keep it close enough to set up a runoff on July 31?

Update 7:43 central: Early numbers look good for Mitt Romney. As of now he is at 70.0%. In the senate race, Dewhurst has 47.8% to Cruz’s 27.9%. No magic 50% for any candidate yet.

Update 8:28 central: Mitt Romney is having a great night. He will win Texas tonight, no surprise there, but with just under 5% in he has 71% of the vote. If that holds up, he’ll clinch the GOP nomination.

In the senate race, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst leads Cruz, 47-29. The most important number is 50, and no one has reached it.

Fun fact: Obama vote total so far: 181, 566. Romney vote total so far: 332,364.

Update: 9:00 central: Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert has conceded the senate race. He was never able to attract much support outside the Dallas area. With more than 11% reporting, it’s still 47-29 for Dewhurst, which means runoff.

Update 9:25 central: With a little over 20% counted, Romney is still above 71%. I doubted he would top 70% but he has. In the senate race, the numbers haven’t change. Dewhurst still leads Cruz, 47-30. Dewhurst has not reached the magic number and statistically he is unlikely to. It looks like we’ll be back to count votes again on July 31.

Update 9:44 central: AP called it a minute or so ago, the Texas senate race will not end tonight. Dewhurst has held his 45-33 lead all night but won’t top the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. Dewhurst will face Cruz on July 31, where the dynamics may tilt the race in Cruz’s favor. But word is that Dewhurst is ready to spend millions between now and runoff day to make sure that he turns out his vote.

Texas House District 25 is also set for a runoff between Roger Williams and, at this point, Wes Riddle. I say “at this point” because the county returns haven’t come in evenly and it’s possible that Riddle could be overtaken for second.

The entire statewide results are live at the Texas secretary of state’s web site, here. I’m calling it a night. Congratulations to Mitt Romney for overperforming in Texas and capturing the Republican presidential nomination. His remarks in reaction to the big win are posted over in Scuttlebutt.