The dramatic win, which came two months after Dewhurst finished a distant second in the March GOP primary, signaled a likely end to the career of Texas' No. 2 elected official - a multimillionaire Houston energy entrepreneur who once was seen as a likely choice to be governor.

Tea-party-backed candidates were victorious in GOP down-ballot races as well.

"We're going to sweep the (election) in November. ... This was a change election," Patrick said. "Voters wanted a strong conservative policy in this state, and they've chosen bold conservative leaders to keep Texas moving ahead."

Details of Patrick's hospitalization twice during the 1980s for mental-health issues made headlines as part of a campaign by Dewhurst supporters to discredit Patrick and raise issues about his ability to govern.

The strategy turned into a nasty TV ad war in the closing weeks. But that seemed only to steel Patrick's support with die-hard, conservative GOP voters, and completed a campaign run that seemed a long shot to many when Patrick announced his candidacy late last summer.

With most precincts across Texas reporting late Tuesday, Patrick was dominating total vote counts and held commanding leads in each of the state's five largest counties, more than doubling Dewhurst's vote totals in Harris County alone.

Patrick's win came after weeks of negative campaigning that went nuclear in its final stages.


Paxton will now face Democrat Sam Houston, a 26-year-old lawyer, in November. Both will strive to replace the current Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate, Greg Abbott.

Paxton was previously endorsed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz who said, "Ken Paxton is a tireless conservative warrior. Ken Paxton stands and fights, whether it's against Obamacare, whether it's fighting for Voter I.D., or whether it's fighting to defend our religious liberty. And I'm proud to say Ken Paxton is my friend in fighting hard for the State of Texas."

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HURD BEATS CANSECO IN GOP PRIMARY FOR 23RD DISTRICT

Former CIA officer Will Hurd secured the GOP nomination for the 23rd Congressional District on Tuesday, winning the runoff election against one-time U.S. Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco.

Just after 9 p.m., the Associated Press declared Hurd the winner of the race. The sprawling congressional district spans 29 counties and two time zones.

"I think this is a clear sign that the folks in this district are ready for something new. They're tired of career politicians," Hurd said from his victory party. "Our message has been resonating in these 29 counties. They want someone to be (in Washington) who's their representative, not just their congressman."

Hurd said he's giving his campaign staff a break Wednesday, but they'll ramp up the campaign Thursday to take on incumbent Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, in the Nov. 4 election.

"We've got five months to spread our message, and we're prepared for that," he said.

Four years ago, Hurd secured more votes than Canseco and the three other hopefuls in the primary election. But because he didn't win a majority, Hurd faced Canseco in a runoff and lost.

Canseco spent two years in Washington and was ousted from his seat in 2012 by Gallego, who ran unopposed in this year's Democratic primary. Canseco ran a lackluster campaign this year, and even though he hasn't been in Washington since 2012, he faced the typical questions aimed at incumbents.

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RYAN SITTON IS VICTORIOUS OVER WAYNE CHRISTIAN
FOR RAILROAD COMMISSIONER 

Ryan Sitton will be the Republican nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, according to the Associated Press. With nearly 15 percent of precincts reporting, mostly with early voting results, Sitton led with 60 percent of the votes. He defeated former state Rep. Wayne Christian, who was the early favorite in the race.

Earlier: With 3 percent of early voting precincts reporting, Ryan Sitton led by a wide margin in the Republican primary runoff election for Texas Railroad Commissioner. Sitton founded the oil and gas engineering firm Pinnacle AIS.

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