More nastiness expected in GOP Senate race in Texas (tea party vs. 'moderate')
Establishment GOP favorite and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst beat Tea Party darling and former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz by 10 percentage points Tuesday but fell well short of breaking the 50 percent of votes cast to avoid a runoff. The two emerged from a nine-candidate Republican field and will square off in a second round of voting July 31. That means nine more weeks of a race drawing national attention because a victory by Cruz may mirror an upset similar to Richard Mourdock's ousting of 36-year Senate veteran Richard Lugar in Indiana.
Dewhurst, the millionaire owner of energy consortiums, won the endorsement of Gov. Rick Perry and poured $15 million of his own money into his campaign. Cruz, a fiery attorney, spent just $470,000 from his personal funds but got millions in support from national grassroots groups, including the Washington-based anti-tax Club For Growth.
Cruz was also endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who called the runoff "a major victory for the conservative movement."
The Republican fight has already been vicious, with Cruz branding Dewhurst as a moderate willing to compromise on key issues and Dewhurst attacking his opponent for his law firm's representing of a Chinese tire manufacturer in an intellectual property dispute with an American company and implying that Cruz supports amnesty for illegal immigrants.
http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/30/3997103/more-nastiness-expected-in-gop.html
These tea party vs republican "moderate" battles are always entertaining. I don't know if the Democrat stands much of chance in Texas regardless of which one of there republicans gets nominated. Normally I would root for the tea party 'crazy' figuring that would give the Democrat a better chance to win in November, but in Texas I'm not sure that is possible.
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