A political expert from the University of Texas highlighted the elections that are expected to make it to a runoff, and not all of those are within the Republican primary.
Professor Jim Henson from the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project said the main race to watch is the Republican lieutenant governor’s race.
"The expectation is that David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick will come out ahead, leaving Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson not making the cut if you will," Henson said.
He said the final numbers in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor will tell us a lot more about the party itself than the candidates.
"Seeing if that race does turnout as expected and seeing just what the gap is between Dewhurst and Patrick is probably the most telling race because in many ways this race seems to reflect the divide that’s been plaguing the Republican Party over the last few cycles between more establishment GOP incumbents and tea party populists," Henson said.
But not every race expecting to head to a runoff will be between Republican candidates.
"On the Democratic side there is a probability that we will see a runoff that will get much less publicity -- but certainly more than it has so far -- in the U.S. Senate race,” Henson said.
That race is between Dallas Dentist Dr. David Alameel, Houston businessman Michael Fjetland, Dr. Harry Kim from Midland, El Paso attorney Maxey Scherr and Kesha Rogers from Houston.
Henson also predicted runoffs in the Republican primary for attorney general, comptroller and possibly the some of the lesser-known statewide offices.
