Runoffs Galore!

Well, primary election day contained a lot of surprises, but relatively few races were resolved. There is a glut of runoffs that will now occur on August 28th to settle the party nominees for many races.

There's a lot to process from the primary. The GOP gubernatorial race left Todd Lamb standing outside of the runoff, and no candidate in a statewide race with three or more people running was able to reach 50%. The 1st Congressional District race ended with former DA Tim Harris surprising most people with a first place finish, while Kevin Hern held off Andy Coleman and Nathan Dahm for the other runoff spot.

Of the conservative legislators that opposed the recent tax hikes and who drew primary challengers, only Sen. Mark Allen won his race without a runoff. Reps. Chuck Strohm and Scott McEachin are gone, trounced in their reelection efforts, receiving 36% to 38% of the vote. Reps. Bobby Cleveland, Jeff Coody, Travis Dunlap, George Faught, Sean Roberts, and Tess Teague all came in first, but under the 50% mark, ranging from a 26.42% lead (Cleveland) to 0.63% lead (Coody). Rep. Mike Ritze is the only legislator to enter a runoff in second place, trailing by 2.92%.

Other Republican legislators in runoffs who voted for the tax hikes are Mark Lawson, John Pfeiffer, and Jadine Nollan, ranging from a 24.99% lead (Lawson) to 9.08% (Nollan). Also of note, Rep. Kevin McDugle currently leads by 3 votes over his challenger, with 10 provisional ballots to be reviewed on Friday.

Three incumbent Republican House members who voted for all of the tax hikes were defeated. Rep. Greg Babinec was crushed by one of his challengers 61% to 28%. Rep. Steve Vaughan lost to Ken Luttrell, who was the Democrat incumbent Vaughan beat back in 2010. Rep. Scooter Park lost to Toni Hassenbeck, who was a Democrat in 2014 when Park beat her by the same exact percentage that she beat him by on Tuesday.

In one of the few bright spots, RINO Sen. Ervin Yen lost his primary in a 60% to 40% thumping.

The State Senate is now guaranteed to have at least 12 freshmen out of 48 members (25%), while the State House is guaranteed to have at least 37 freshmen out of 101 members (37%). At least one-third of the legislature will be brand new.

Republicans have 34 runoffs -- 7 statewide races, one congressional, 4 state senate races, and 22 state house races. The Libertarian gubernatorial primary barely went to a runoff. Democrats have 13 runoffs -- one statewide race, four congressional, 1 state senate race, and 7 state house races.

Here are the runoffs for the statewide, congressional, and legislative races:

REPUBLICAN RUNOFFS
Governor: Mick Cornett (29.35%) vs. Kevin Stitt (24.41%)
Lieutenant Governor: Dana Murphy (45.85%) vs. Matt Pinnell (35.7%)
State Auditor: Cindy Byrd (49.45%) vs. Charlie Prater (42.08%)
Attorney General: Mike Hunter (44.46%) vs. Gentner Drummond (38.46%)
State Superintendent: Joy Hofmeister (46.84%) vs. Linda Murphy (31.05%)
Labor Commissioner: Cathy Costello (43.26%) vs. Leslie Osborn (35.92%)
Corporation Commissioner: Bob Anthony (47.17%) vs. Brian Bingman (38.42%)
Congressional District 1: Tim Harris (27.48%) vs. Kevin Hern (22.67%)
Senate District 10: Bill Coleman (48.47%) vs. Amber Roberts (27.46%)
SD16: Ed Crocker (44.41%) vs. Becky Maldonado (39.44%)
SD30: Lori Callahan (20.07%) vs. John Symcox (19.96%)
SD36: John Haste (34.71%) vs. Bill Day (25.6%)
House District 10: Rep. Travis Dunlap (46.11%) vs. Judd Strom (41.93%)
HD14: Rep. George Faught (44.61%) vs. Chris Sneed (28.48%)
HD17: John Hass (34.88%) vs. Jim Grego (29.02%)
HD20: Rep. Bobby Cleveland (43.04%) vs. Sherrie Conley (16.62%)
HD27: Danny Sterling (37.8%) vs. Dave Spaulding (37.45%)
HD30: Rep. Mark Lawson (47.48%) vs. Kent Glessner (22.49%)
HD36: Rep. Sean Roberts (33.04%) vs. Louise Redcorn (32.13%)
HD38: Rep. John Pfeiffer (42.55%) vs. Brian Hobbs (31.32%)
HD41: Roxanne Pollard (36.89%) vs. Denise Hader (29.83%)
HD43: Jay Steagall (33.73%) vs. Crystal Duncan (30.12%)
HD47: Brian Hill (40.18%) vs. Beverly Adams (32.8%)
HD61: Kenton Patzkowsky (42.07%) vs. Brad Raven (31.73%)
HD63: Rep. Jeff Coody (39.71%) vs. Trey Caldwell (39.08%)
HD66: Rep. Jadine Nollan (45.71%) vs. Brian Jackson (36.63%)
HD68: Lonnie Sims (33.4%) vs. Nicole Nixon (27.97%)
HD71: Cheryl Baber (43.44%) vs. Beverly Atteberry (24.29%)
HD79: Karen Gilbert (48.37%) vs. Dan Hicks (44.9%)
HD80: Stan May (39.48%) vs. Rep. Mike Ritze (36.56%)
HD82: Nicole Miller (33.87%) vs. Brad Martin (17.44%)
HD98: Laura Steele (29.32%) vs. Dean Davis (27.35%)
HD100: Julie Roach (41.55%) vs. Marilyn Stark (38.18%)
HD101: Rep. Tess Teague (37.99%) vs. Robert Manger (26.55%)

LIBERTARIAN RUNOFF
Governor: Chris Powell (48.92%) vs. Rex Lawhorn (32.4%)

DEMOCRATIC RUNOFFS
Corporation Commissioner: Ashley McCray (48.79%) vs. Blake Cummings (22.17%)
Congressional District 1: Tim Gilpin (34.5%) vs. Amanda Douglas (32.41%)
Congressional District 2: Jason Nichols (37.9%) vs. Clay Padgett (24.21%)
Congressional District 4: Mary Brannon (34.36%) vs. Fred Gipson (30.37%)
Congressional District 5: Kendra Horn (43.84%) vs. Tom Guild (17.91%)
Senate District 16: Mary Boren (34.59%) vs. Rep. Claudia Griffith (32.81%)
House District 26: Terry Hopkins (38.72%) vs. Bruce Bushong (31.76%)
HD41: Sara Peterson (39.11%) vs. Jennie Scott (37.75%)
HD53: Leslie Bonebreak (39.34%) vs. Cyndy Sutherland (36.14%)
HD68: Angela Statum (49.36%) vs. Michael Ross (32.94%)
HD91: Amanda Jeffers (45.08%) vs. Sonya Fergeson (30.49%)
HD99: Ajay Pittman (38.14%) vs. Nkem House (32.1%)
HD101: Madeline Scott (32.51%) vs. John Carpenter (28.81%)

You can view the statewide results here, or county-by-county results here.