There are plenty of results coming from yesterday’s grey, chilly primary day to indicate that the far right is getting a not spectacular but firm push from state and federal government. John Cornyn (whom we are expected to consider a “moderate”) seems to be keeping his Senate seat. Crazy Steve Stockman has been encouraged to go away somewhere and eat worms. But the tea party is not entirely dead here.

Establishment Republican leaders on Tuesday defeated challenges from the right in a statewide primary election as conservatives inspired by Senator Ted Cruz largely failed to topple mainstream incumbents, and a race for lieutenant governor headed for a runoff.

Two Republican leaders in Congress — Senator John Cornyn and Representative Pete Sessions — and a number of other Republicans in the House overcame opponents backed by Tea Party activists. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst will face a conservative state senator, Dan Patrick, in a runoff on May 27, a sign that Mr. Dewhurst’s loss to Mr. Cruz in the 2012 Senate primary runoff continued to hurt his popularity. ...NYT

Hispanics in Texas are historically Democratic in their votes. The GOP in Texas may have found a way of promoting a new national party leader while guaranteeing a drift of Hispanics to the right. They’re using Bush. No, not that one; a new one.

George P. Bush — the nephew of former President George W. Bush, who served as governor here from 1995 to 2000 — easily won the race for land commissioner, a relatively low-profile position that some Republicans have used as a steppingstone for higher office. His win illustrated the lasting influence of the family political brand and provided Hispanic conservatives with their highest-profile spokesman here.

Mr. Bush, whose mother is Mexican-American, is a co-founder of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, a political action committee. Analysts say he could play a major role in helping Republicans woo Hispanics in Texas, a population that has traditionally voted Democratic.

For Democrats, the primary was not nearly as competitive, although several races were noteworthy. The musician and humorist Kinky Friedman, who ran for governor in 2006, sought the Democratic nomination for agriculture commissioner. Advocating the legalization of marijuana, he won enough votes to find himself in a runoff. ...NYT

Friedman, a good guy (and a neighbor, more or less), is hardly a shoo-in.

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The Hill points out that Ted Cruz’s efforts have had a lasting effect on Texas politics.

It wasn’t all dim for Tea Party acolytes in Texas. Though their weak playbook against top targets failed, down-ballot conservative challengers were more successful.

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R), who Cruz defeated in his Senate primary in 2012, trailed social conservative and former sports broadcaster Dan Patrick (R) by a double-digit margin in his reelection race, and will head to a runoff. The results show that all the money Cruz and his allies spent against Dewhurst badly damaged his reputation in the state — and that the wealthy self-funded wasn’t that great a candidate to begin with, part of the reason Cruz won two years ago.