Lone star, lone party: Republicans relish rule in Texas

Tuesday night in Texas witnessed Republican Greg Abbott overwhelmingly elected as the first new governor in 14 years alongside tea party leaders who advanced to statewide offices in a strong slap to a self-assured and well-funded Democratic challenge.

True to predictions, Wendy Davis’ star power following her filibuster over Texas abortion restrictions 17 months ago failed to bolster her uncertain performance as a candidate. When more than half the votes were counted, Abbott, the state attorney general since 2003, was already in possession of more than 60 percent of the vote.

“America needs Texas doing what Texas has been doing for the last 14 years,” said Gov. Rick Perry, speaking to an Austin victory party crowd Tuesday evening.

Perry observed that the races Texas Republicans won will succeed in keeping statewide offices free of Democrats for a quarter of a century. “There’s a whole lot of the country that’s looking to be a lot more like Texas tonight,” he added, with a nod to the night’s Republican winning spree.

While he did not pursue a fourth term as governor, Perry is considering another presidential run. Two other likely GOP presidential candidates, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, were present at the gathering to congratulate Abbott.

Addressing an energetic crowd at Austin’s Moody Theater last night, Abbott, 56, vowed to make Texas schools the best in the nation, to create jobs via limited government, and to ensure reasonable regulation standards. “Tonight, we celebrate,” he concluded. “Tomorrow, we go to work. And there will be plenty of work to do.”

When he takes office in January, Abbott will also be the first elected governor to use a wheelchair in the United States since 1982. An accident caused by a falling tree in his law school years left him paralyzed from the waist down. He will govern alongside Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the better-funded candidate who crushed 11-year incumbent David Dewhurst in a runoff, then beat Democratic state Senate colleague Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio on Tuesday. A radio talk show host, Patrick is an outspoken supporter of charter schools and school vouchers. He takes a hardline immigration stance and promises to secure the Texas-Mexico border at all costs.

In her Fort Worth concession speech Tuesday night, Davis expressed gratitude to her supporters, saying that they still have something to celebrate: “We won day-by-day because this wasn’t just a campaign to win the governor’s seat, it was a fight to make sure that seat belongs to you,” Davis said. Preliminary results of an exit poll conducted for the Associated Press and television networks revealed female voters were divided almost evenly between the candidates. Davis was preferred by Hispanic voters, while whites were overwhelmingly supportive of Abbott.

Tuesday’s election night also saw the election of a fourth generation member of the Bush family to public office, the first in the family’s history to win his first race. Jeb Bush’s son, George P. Bush, won statewide office in Texas as land commissioner. Whether or not his father will declare his own candidacy for the presidency is still unknown, although the prospect appears more likely in light of yesterday’s results.