Mark Phariss
Mark Phariss holds a 1,500 vote lead over Brian Chaput in the Texas Senate District 8 race. Phariss was the plaintiff in the marriage equality case. He’ll face a far-right extremist in November should he win tonight’s primary.
On the Republican side, Angela Paxton and Phillip Huffines have made this the most expensive race in Texas so far in this election season. In early voting, Paxton, wife of indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton, holds a 2,700 vote lead over Huffines.
In other state Senate races, Republican incumbents aren’t doing well. Challenger Cindy Burkett is ahead of incumbent Bob Hall in the east Dallas seat. Pat Fallon, who is trying to unseat Craig Estes, may win the three-way race without a runoff. Hall and Estes were targeted by the Freedom Caucus for not being conservative enough and the newcomers were endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Patrick flooded the airwaves in Texas’ large cities complaining about “big city liberals.” He’s winning his two-way race with more than 75 percent of the vote.
— David Taffet