Polls have just closed in (most of) the state of Texas, where voters are casting ballots in the Democratic and Republican primaries. Our guide to tonight's key races can be found
here. Remember that if no one clears 50% in any given race, the top two vote-getters will advance to a July 31 runoff.
Results: Statewide | By County | SoS
5:14 PM PT (David Jarman): We're starting to get our first numbers in, if you want to start hitting "refresh." Only a few precincts so far though (single digits, out of more than 8000).
5:25 PM PT (David Jarman): We're starting to see a little movement here, with 0.4% reporting (35 of 8779) in the TX-Sen R primary. David Dewhurst isn't hitting the 50% mark, needed to avoid a runoff; he's at 43, to 29 for Ted Cruz, 20 for Tom Leppert, and a woeful 4 for Craig James. On the Dem side, Paul Sadler is at 35%, but for now, it looks like his runoff opponent will be Some Dude (albeit Dude who shares a last name with a famous former Senator) Grady Yarbrough, who's at 25. Sean Hubbard, the other Dem of note, is only at 16.
5:29 PM PT (David Jarman): Only a few House races are giving us significant numbers yet. In TX-04, we've got 2% reporting in the R primary, and it looks like crusty old Ralph Hall is on his way to survive once again; he's at 60% with his two tea-flavored opponents both mired in the teens. And in the Dem primary in TX-23, we've got 1% reporting... there, it's looking like a runoff, with Ciro Rodriguez at 47 and Pete Gallego at 41, with John Bustamente at 12.
5:32 PM PT (David Jarman): Here's a surprising and potentially premature call: the AP already has its big red checkmark out for Eddie Bernice Johnson in the Dem primary in TX-30. That's with 0% reporting, though there are about 14,000 early votes in. She's at 71%, to 18 for Barbara Caraway and only 12 for the often-hyped Taj Clayton, so I guess that's enough for them to feel confident (or maybe it'll be withdrawn at some point).
5:38 PM PT (David Jarman): A few more House races. In the newly-created TX-34, there's 0% reporting, but nearly 20,000 early votes; here, Filemon Vega is dominant but still in the runoff zone because of the sheer number of candidates (at 43%); Ramiro Garza's at 14, followed by the recently-indicted Armando Villalobos at 10. We also have 0% reporting but a lot of early votes (10K) in TX-35, where Lloyd Doggett is clearing the runoff bar easily, at 69% to Sylvia Romo's 25,
5:41 PM PT (David Jarman): We're up to 2% reporting in TX-23, and Ciro Rodriguez is above the runoff bar. He's at 54% to 36 for Pete Gallego.
5:46 PM PT (David Jarman): The Williams vs. Williams duel in TX-25's R primary isn't really panning out. Roger Williams (the ex-SoS, and the white one) is way out front at 28; Michael Williams (the African-American ex-RR commissioner) is in a tie for 4th place at 11. In the second runoff slot, for now, is Some Dude Wes Riddle, at 14. (That's with 2% reporting.) And in newly-created dark-red TX-36, supposed frontrunner Michael Jackson is in 5th place, though that's with 1% reporting. In the first two slots, it's a tie at 24 between Stephen Takach and, get this, ex-Rep. Steve Stockman.
5:48 PM PT (David Jarman): We've got 0% reporting but about 8K early votes in the other new district, TX-33 (the Hispanic-plurality district in the DFW area). Marc Veasey and Domingo Rivera look runoff bound, at 39 and 25 respectively. David Alameel's $2 million has only gotten him 9%.
6:15 PM PT: Incidentally, polls closed a little while ago in the western corner of Texas, home to El Paso, which sits in the Mountain time zone and features a contested race between Rep. Silvestre Reyes and Beto O'Rourke in TX-16 (D).
6:37 PM PT: I've been reluctant to pile on too many updates, given that just about every race that matters is still in the single digits in terms of precincts reporting. The early vote did just come in in TX-16 (D), though, and it's quite a shocker: Beto O'Rourke is at 51 and Silvestre Reyes is at 43. If Reyes loses without a runoff, that would be amazing.
6:41 PM PT: Alright, we're now up to 6% reporting statewide, and David Dewhurst is awfully close to avoid a runoff. He's at 48 to Ted Cruz's 31.
6:44 PM PT: WIth 10% reporting in TX-34 (D), Filemon Vela has a wide lead with 43%. The next-closest is Ramiro Garza at 13, but five candidates are bunched up with 8 to 13% of the vote.
6:46 PM PT: In TX-23 (D), Ciro Rodriguez has fallen just below the 50% cutoff. Pete Gallego is at 39.
6:58 PM PT (David Jarman): We've got a trio of AP calls in races to watch, though all involve Republican incumbents and none of them are unexpected. In TX-06 (R), Joe Barton survived at 64% (Joe Chow was his nearest competitor at 19). In TX-19, Randy Neugebauer was getting teabagged by a former county chair, Chris Witt, but racked up 74%. And in TX-27, Blake Farenthold survives at 81%, against a truckload of minor opposition.
7:00 PM PT: The liveblog continues here.