Texas primary: Paxton and Cornyn go to runoff, Crockett falls to Talarico, Crenshaw loses to Trump-backed Steve Toth

Primary elections in Texas left several races unresolved and revealed clear trends in key contests for the U.S. Senate, state attorney general, U.S. House and governor of "The Lone Star State."

In the Republican primary for the Senate, one of the most closely watched races of the night, Sen. John Cornyn, who is seeking a fifth term, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton advanced to a runoff after leading in the preliminary count. The race was called by AP and other news agencies. With 93% of votes counted, Cornyn was leading Paxton by just over one percentage point, 41.9% to 40.8%.

In his first statements to the press, Cornyn harshly attacked Paxton: "I have worked for decades to build the Republican Party, both here in Texas and nationally. I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered, shameless candidate like Ken Paxton to risk everything we have worked so hard to build for all these years."

Paxton, on the other hand, assured that in the runoff he will sweep and beat Cornyn by more than thirty points.

Federal Representative Wesley Hunt, who was also competing in the primary race, considered the most expensive in the history of the state, came in a distant third place, with 13% of the vote.

In the Democratic primary for the same seat, state Rep. James Talarico, one of the Democratic up-and-comers, prevailed over federal congresswoman from the more radical wing Jasmine Crockett. With 91% of votes counted, Talarico had surpassed the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

Visibly angry, Crockett suggested to the press that the race may have been rigged.

Attorney general race

The Republican primary for Texas attorney general also points to a runoff. State Sen. Mayes Middleton leads the count with about 40.6% with more than 67% of the precincts counted. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is in second place with about 30.4%, putting both on track for a May runoff.

Former Justice Department official Aaron Reitz was in third place with just over 14% of the vote.

Among Democrats, the count was still underway. With 89% of votes counted, it appears headed for a runoff between former Department of Homeland Security official Nathan Johnson, who led with 47.9%, attorney Joe Jaworski with 26.7% and former state Rep. Anthony Box with 25.4%.

Logic rules in the governor's race

In the Republican primary for governor, the Republican incumbent Greg Abbott was projected to win with a wide lead, exceeding 80% of the vote.

In the Democratic primary, Gina Hinojosa, chairwoman of the Texas Democratic Party and former Austin school board member, was projected as the winner of her race.

The two will square off in the general election.

Surprise in the House of Representatives

In the Republican primary in Texas District 2, Congressman Dan Crenshaw surprisingly fell behind State Representative Steve Toth, endorsed by Trump, who prevailed, with 56% of the vote to Crenshaw's 40.5% with 94% of the votes counted.

Likewise, in Texas' 18th District, Democratic District 9 Rep. Al Green marches a point and a half behind incumbent Christian Menefee with 87% of ballots reviewed in one of the Republican reconfigured districts.