Primary Election Nite & Tx Bd of Ed: Bye-bye McLeroy?

As of 6:55 AM Central Time Wednesday 3 March...

Most of the action is in the Republican primaries:

Former Board Chairman Don "The Dentist" McLeroy is in a squeaker with his primary challenger, Tom Ratliff--at this point, Ratliff is holding a slender 700-vote lead in unofficial returns. If McLeroy goes down, it will be a huge blow to The Faction--they will need even more swing votes (which will be harder to find) to get their agenda passed.

Another former Board Chair, Geraldine "Tincy" Miller, wife of the heir to the Henry S. Miller real estate fortune, has apparently lost a primary challenge, bringing to an end her career of about two-dozen years on the board. Her challenger, Dallas ISD English/Language Arts Administrator George Clayton, has a several percentage-points lead in the final (but unofficial) results. Tincy had been a vociferous critic of The Faction, although occasionally a little ham-fisted in her tactics. Clayton's platform seems very pro-teacher, which would not seem to align well with The Faction's typical distrust of teachers, either.

Out in West Texas' District 15, Republican Bob Craig of Lubbock, a more skillful opponent of The Faction, has fought off a challenge from Randy Rives, who sought to paint Craig as "not conservative enough" and a "RINO--Republican In Name Only." Rives managed to eke out only 36% with all of the vote counted.

In District 5, stretching from South Austin through the Hill Country and northern San Antonio, incumbent Republican (and Faction Member) Ken Mercer ran a hard campaign against a well-funded opponent, Tim Tuggey. Tuggey, a former lobbyist, was supported by millionaires Red McCombs (of car dealerships and an NBA franchise) and Charles Butt (of the HEB grocery store family), but Mercer's discovery that Tuggey had supported some Democratic candidates on behalf of lobbying clients was enough to get the base to vote for Mercer as the "true Republican": 69% to 31%.

The only contested Democratic primary was for the privilege to face Ken Mercer, and that race is being handily won by Texas State University professor Rebecca Bell-Metereau, with 62% of the vote, with the nearest of her three rivals, Daniel Boone, having only 22%.

In District 10, which stretches from North Austin almost to Houston, Cynthia Dunbar declined to stand for re-election. Three candidates are splitting the Republican vote almost evenly. The top two, Dunbar-endorsed attorney Brian Russell and conservative teacher Marsha Farney (who funded her campaign with $120K of her own money) are tied at 35% and headed for a run-off election, leaving behind teacher Rebecca Osborne, who was only a few points behind them. This run-off will be a true test of what drives politics: party loyalty (Russell is a former member of the State Republican Party Committee) or money (Farney seems to have plenty of it). The winner of the run-off will face Democrat Judy Jennings in what could be a swing district in November, as it is 47% Democrat and 53% Republican.

Finally, Republican Tony Cunningham is the clear victor in the District 3 primary. However, the district, which stretches from San Antonio south to the Rio Grande, is so heavily Democratic, it is unlikely he will prevail against the Democratic nominee, Trinity University professor Michael Soto. They are taking over for Democrat Rick Agosto, whose peculiar political career as the swing vote who could give The Faction what they wanted or deny it is now at an end.