Thanks to LST readers Russell Jumonville and "Paulette" for passing along these pics from the Dan Patrick victory party.

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As a principled free-marketeer, Patrick campaign chairman Court Koenning sees nothing wrong with selling naming rights to son Carson’s public appearances– in this case, to the Republic of Congo, which plans to lobby during the next regular legislative session for increased trade between Texas and that small African nation.

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KHOU’s Doug Miller attempts to suppress his seething rage upon noticing that LST has already published early voting returns, while he’s stuck waiting for his news director to decide to break away from "The Amazing Race 9" so he can report on the story.

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Feel free to send your own pics along to us at lsteditors@gmail.com for potential posting.

Posted without comment.*

HEADLINE: Marcia defeats Casteel by 44 votes

The Herald-Zeitung, 3/8/06

Carter Casteel lost her bid for re-election to the District 73 Texas House seat Tuesday by an unbelievably thin 44-vote margin.

After watching her early lead slowly erode throughout the evening, Casteel conceded the race at about 10:45 p.m.

Her announcement, made to roughly 50 die-hard supporters who stayed by her side until the end, was met with stunned silence.

[snip]

… Casteel later gathered her family around her and comforted them and her supporters with motherly wisdom.

"It’s fine. Shush, it’s fine," she said, putting her arms around as many of them as she could. "We might have lost tonight, but we are winners for two reasons. First, we did not break the 9th Commandment — do not lie. And secondly, our family for the first time in four years will be able to spend more time together."

[Casteel] wasted no time making a pronouncement about how important her loss was to the entire state.

[snip]

"What this means is that no representative can take an independent vote because someone with money might take issue with it," she said. "That’s the tough part. I’ll be all right, but this race has changed Texas politics."

Casteel and many Texas political observers think the two-term legislator was targeted by San Antonio-area physician James Leininger for elimination from office because of her vote against a school voucher bill he had his heart set on seeing passed during the last regular session in 2005.

[snip]

To her well-wishers and party faithful, Casteel offered a warning.

"Let me tell you, the Republican Party is in trouble. And we’ve got to do what we can to save it," she said, which was greeted with a hearty chorus of "amen."

* By me; ya’ll are free to say what you want

By now you know that Dan Patrick, Republican candidate for state Senate District 7, soundly defeated his primary opponents in yesterday’s elections to put his name on the November ballot. The final numbers for the District 7 race:

Mark Ellis 2,545 6.07%

Peggy Hamric 6,900 16.45%

Joe Nixon 3,629 8.65%

Dan Patrick 28,860 68.82%

Total Votes Cast 41,934
Precincts Reported 171 of 171 Precincts 100.00%

Other important results include the near unanimous passage of all four ballot propositions, which included photo ID for voters, appraisal cap reduction, private property protection, and limits on government spending increases. These measures won primary voter approval with near 90/10 margins on all four items.

Governor Perry easily won his party’s nomination for the Governor’s race with just over 84% of the vote in a field of four, while Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst saw his single opponent garner just over 21% of the vote to his winning 78%.

Full results can be found at the Texas Secretary of State’s website, while county webpages offer local results for comparison. (See individual returns for Harris County, Montgomery County, and Fort Bend County.)

Congratulations to the winning candidates, especially Mr. Patrick, in what may prove to be one of the most potential-laden primary elections ever seen in the Lone Star State. Will Austin ever be the same?

BONUS RACE: Hate figure for the Left, Sugar Land representative Tom DeLay, also managed to secure the nomination for the November ballot with 62% of the vote out of a field of four. Apparently the relentless media drumbeat against the former House Majority Leader was not enough to convince voters that he was unfit to seek another term.

E-mail the author or leave a comment below.

From ABCNews Christian Science Monitor comes this report of a property tax revolt that is spreading nationwide .

"Real estate growth and real estate boom seem to be happening all over the country and [property-tax revolt] is an inevitable consequence," says Roger Sherman, a property tax expert in Boise, Idaho. This year, legislative proposals, citizen initiatives, and lawsuits are on the agenda in at least 20 states. These new efforts reflect both residents’ distrust of how their property tax dollars are being spent and concerns that rising assessments are driving working-class people out of popular towns and cities.

I did not see Texas mentioned anywhere in the report. Can we say that with Dan’s win last night Texas has a citizen’s initiative to lower property taxes in progress thus making us the 21st state? Keep pushing for that 3% cap Dan.

South Carolina last week passed a law that caps the increase in property assessments at 3 percent per year. Many Georgia lawmakers are backing a measure to put a similar cap in the state constitution. The bill’s sponsor, first-term state Rep. Edward Lindsey (R) from Atlanta, argues that it’s unfair to hit homeowners with a big tax boost years before they sell their home and profit from its increased value. "Not even the IRS is so bold as to tax people on unrealized gain," says Mr. Lindsey. "These are essentially backdoor tax increases that give government no incentive to be efficient or responsive."

So take heart Dan Patrick, you are not alone. If a first term state rep in Georgia can push through an appraisal cap bill, the voters of District 7 believe you can too.

The Chronicle’s Rick Casey asks this morning– "Dan Patrick: ‘Prophet’ or ‘Bishop’?".

We suspect some legislators would answer "Try Anti-Christ."

Here’s your open comments thread for the day– feel free to supply your own caption for the picture below…

P.S.– It’s our understanding that Dan will be on with Edd in the 7AM hour today.