Texas Election Results

Greg Abbott, the state’s attorney general, went into Election Day with such a powerful electoral advantage over State Senator Wendy Davis that the race was called moments after the polls closed.

Ms. Davis came to national prominence last year in an 11-hour filibuster that temporarily blocked an anti-abortion bill. Republicans called her “abortion Barbie” and never let up their attacks. While Ms. Davis proved to be a potent fund-raiser, she turned out to be a less effective campaigner. When she did go on the offensive, she managed to offend. Her best-known ad lingered on an empty wheelchair and accused Mr. Abbott, who was paralyzed in an accident in 1984, of hypocrisy.

Mr. Abbott had reached a $10 million settlement for his own injury but, the ad argued, he had worked to restrict recovery for other accident victims. The Abbott campaign called the ad “desperate and despicable.” Even without those stumbles, however, Ms. Davis faced a major challenge in a state that has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in 20 years.

Two state senators faced off for the powerful position of lieutenant governor: Dan Patrick, a Republican, and Leticia Van de Putte, a Democrat. Mr. Patrick, a Houston talk-show host and favorite of the Tea Party, campaigned hard on an anti-abortion platform and warned of the threat of Islamic terrorists crossing over the Mexican border.

Mr. Patrick defeated the incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, a more establishment conservative, in an aggressive primary and he had little trouble winning the general election over Ms. Van de Putte, a pharmacist who has long represented San Antonio.

John Cornyn, the Republican incumbent, easily defeated Dr. David Alameel, a Democrat who had founded and sold a chain of dental clinics.

Texas also elected George Bush, but not the ones who most readily come to mind. George P. Bush, 38, the son of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and the nephew of former president George W. Bush — and, of course, the grandson of former President George H. W. Bush, won statewide office as land commissioner. Mr. Bush, a lawyer and energy consultant, easily defeated John Cook, the former mayor of El Paso.

The land commissioner, one of the lesser known of Texas’ statewide offices, manages public lands and the mineral rights, which in turn help to fund public education. Mr. Bush’s mother, Columba Bush, is Mexican-American, and he is a founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, a political action committee. Neither his father, his uncle or his grandfather won their first elections.