What Went Down At Biden’s State Of The Union And Texas’s Primary Election

Happy Wednesday, everybody! We’re officially in the morning post- Texas’s Primary Day, so here are a few notable updates that happened while you were probably sleeping:

• The Attorney General race: We mentioned this last night, but embattled incumbent Ken Paxton is officially headed to a runoff against Land Commissioner George P. Bush. Per the New York Times, with more than 95 percent of the vote reported, Paxton got 42.7 percent of the vote versus Bush’s 22.8 percent. In a radio interview this morning, though, Paxton assured his base that “if conservatives unite … we can end the Bush dynasty.”
• The Lieutenant Governor Race: Incumbent Dan Patrick easily sailed through the Republican primary last night — earning about 76 percent of the vote. But it looks like Democrats Mike Collier and Michelle Beckley are headed to a runoff this May to see who will challenge the Republican in November.
• The Land Commissioner Race: In the one open statewide seat, state Sen. Dawn Buckingham, who had the backing of Trump, received the most votes in her bid for the GOP nomination for land commissioner. Unfortunately for her, though, she didn’t earn over 50 percent of the vote, which means she’ll go to a runoff against Tim Westley, a pastor and former congressional candidate. There will also be a runoff on the Democratic side between conservationist Jay Kleberg and Sandragrace Martinez.
• The 28th District: Overnight, the New York Times announced that incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar and Jessica Cisneros are officially headed to a runoff. With over 95 percent of the vote reported, Cuellar has a small edge at 48.5 percent, while Cisneros trails closely behind him at 46.8 percent.
• The 3rd District: Rep. Van Taylor, one of the few conservative congressmen who faced a difficult reelection bid, didn’t hit the 50 percent mark outright and is now headed to primary runoff after facing a group of challengers who attacked his vote for a commission to investigate the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. According to the New York Times with more than 95 percent of the vote reported, Taylor is still barely clinging onto first place with 48.7 percent of the vote, while former Collin County Judge Keith Self sits at roughly 27 percent.
• The 8th District: In the hard-fought Republican primary in the state’s 8th District, Morgan Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL, has declared victory, and it does seem with 91 percent of the vote reported that Luttrell will avoid a runoff. His most formidable opponent was political operative Christian Collins, but he currently has roughly 22 percent of the vote compared to Luttrell’s 53 percent.
• The 15th District: Though the Republican primary in this district is settled, two Democrats — lawyer Ruben Ramirez and business owner Michelle Vallejo — are poised to head to a runoff, earning 28.3 percent and 20.1 percent of the vote, respectively