#TXLEGE: Flores has a pretty good night!!!

"He who gathers in summer is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame."
Proverbs 10:5

We assume you've heard:

Republican Pete Flores and Democrat Pete Gallego are headed to a runoff in the special election to replace convicted former state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio.

With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Flores led Gallego by 5 percentage points, 34 percent to 29 percent, according to unofficial returns. At 24 percent, state Rep. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio came in third in the eight-way race, and he conceded in a statement. The five other candidates were in single digits, including Uresti's brother, outgoing state Rep. Tomas Uresti of San Antonio.

The first-place finish by Flores, who unsuccessfully challenged Carlos Uresti in 2016, is a boon to Republicans in the Democratic-leaning district. In the home stretch of the race, Flores benefited from a raft of endorsements from Texas' top elected officials including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.

That's all well and good, but here's where it gets crazy:

In the #txlege #SD19 special the 4 Democratic candidates combined to defeat the 3 Republican candidates 66.1% to 32.8% in the Early Vote, but the 3 Republicans combined to defeat the 4 Democrats in the Election Day Vote, 51.6% to 47.4%. EV=(16.6k), ED=(9.5k).

— Mark P. Jones (@MarkPJonesTX) August 1, 2018

Keep in mind, the Republicans didn't engage until late (and, even then, pretty modestly); for that minimal level of engagement to produce a 20 point shift is astonishing.

Special kudos to Texas Right to Life, without whose early engagement this wouldn't have been possible.

Finally, we will repeat what we've been saying about this race since the beginning: In its current from, the Democrat party is too far to the left on guns and babies for this part of the state.

Bottom Line: This race remains an uphill battle, but last night's results are a very good sign.