Inside Intelligence: About That Statewide Election...

We went to the insiders this week with the big question of the season, now that early voting is underway: What’s gonna happen?

In our search for conventional wisdom, we did not ask the insiders how they plan to vote but who they think will carry the day.

Not surprisingly, they foresee a Republican sweep in Texas in 2014.

Only small percentages predicted Democratic winners in any of the seven non-judicial statewide contests; the best performers among the Democrats (or the worst among the Republicans, if you prefer) were Leticia Van de Putte, the San Antonio senator running for lieutenant governor, and Mike Collier, the Houston accountant who would like to be the state’s next comptroller. Their opponents are Republican Sens. Dan Patrick of Houston and Glenn Hegar of Katy.

We collected comments along the way and a full set of those is attached. Here’s a sampling:

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for governor?

• "It's not going to be as close as Democrats would like to think - not this time at least. "

• "What will be Battleground's excuse? It surely won't be lack of money. "

• "Abbott never had to run the race he and his team were prepared to run. Davis and her team ran a race that they'd like to forget. "

• "Duh"

• "Another repub sweep. For all of her star power on the East and left Coasts, Davis has run a terrible campaign."

• "You could've saved us time on all of these questions by offering a straight-ticket button--after all, that's what most voters are going to do!"

• "Its a Republican sweep and the Democrats and their allies in the media will respond as if it was somehow unfair -- but its just democracy. Democrats keep trying to win by changing the messenger -- Tony Sanchez, Trial Lawyer Bell, Trial Lawyer White, Wendy Davis -- but the problem isn't the messenger its the message. Texans are not going to vote for big spending, pro-trial lawyer, liberal, abortion on demand candidates, no matter who they are. "

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for lieutenant governor?

• "Note to Battleground TX and Hollywood liberals: Next time, study where the levers of power reside in Texas before picking a candidate to fund."

• "By a bigger margin than Abbott..."

• "Even though the polls show a double digit lead for Dan Patrick, I can't bring myself to check the box beside his name even though this is just a survey. "

• "I'd much rather discuss A&M football on a Monday at the office. "

• "Van de Putte's inability to build any fire and momentum is the biggest surprise and disappointment of the cycle."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for attorney general?

• "Not sure who will be happier when Paxton wins: The TEA Party or the Texas media who gets to write about his lingering ethics issues."

• "Defaming attempts by the Republican left didn't work. Thank goodness. Paxton is a principled, courageous conservative."

• "Shame."

• "Anybody voting for Paxton is seriously delusional; an electorate that puts party first over felonious activity needs a serious gut check. "

• "Biggest victory by the most unqualified candidate for this job in recent history. D stands for dead. "

• "I bet Sam Houston gets the closest to 48"

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for comptroller?

• "This is the one office where it is easier to assess a candidate's qualifications and where qualifications should prevail but won't. "

• "Best qualified candidate on the ballot for either party. "

• "Let's be honest here: Hegar is a political hack with no experience handling multi-billion dollar budgets while Collier is actually a CPA and knows how to crunch numbers, but we find ourselves in a position where, once again, the electorate puts party first over common sense. "

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for land commissioner?

• "Didn't George P. already win this seat back in March?"

• "Without my vote. No more Bushes."

• "George P was affable enough until he refused to endorse his own father for President. Thanks for the reminder that there is craven. And then there is Bush craven. "

• "Actually like this guy; he's got the money and prestige but he also brings some class sometimes missing from our candidates and definitely a more practical approach as a Republican-Wish he and Straus did more together; maybe they will!"

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for agriculture commissioner?

• "Sid Miller: Because traditional animal husbandry is between one heifer and one bull."

• "Really? He hasn't really campaigned on the issues and when he does, he doesn't understand what the office is responsible for and appropriations."

• "Like my ballot. I'm skipping this race."

• "Finally an Ag Commissioner who can actually drive a tractor."

Enlarge Emily Albracht

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Who will win the race for railroad commissioner?

• "Finally, new blood!"

• "We have railroads? Do they transport oil?"

Our thanks to this week's participants: Gene Acuna, Cathie Adams, Victor Alcorta, Clyde Alexander, George Allen, Jay Arnold, Charles Bailey, Dave Beckwith, Andrew Biar, Allen Blakemore, Tom Blanton, Chris Britton, Blaine Bull, David Cabrales, Raif Calvert, Lydia Camarillo, Kerry Cammack, Janis Carter, William Chapman, Beth Cubriel, Randy Cubriel, Denise Davis, June Deadrick, Nora Del Bosque, Glenn Deshields, Holly DeShields, Tom Duffy, David Dunn, Richard Dyer, Jeff Eller, Jack Erskine, John Esparza, Jon Fisher, Norman Garza, Dominic Giarratani, Bruce Gibson, Stephanie Gibson, Eric Glenn, John Greytok, Clint Hackney, Bill Hammond, Susan Hays, John Heasley, Ken Hodges, Steve Holzheauser, Laura Huffman, Deborah Ingersoll, Cal Jillson, Jason Johnson, Bill Jones, Mark Jones, Walt Jordan, Lisa Kaufman, Robert Kepple, Richard Khouri, Tom Kleinworth, Ramey Ko, Sandy Kress, Nick Lampson, Pete Laney, James LeBas, Luke Legate, Leslie Lemon, Myra Leo, Ruben Longoria, Matt Mackowiak, Luke Marchant, Mike McKinney, Steve Minick, Bee Moorhead, Mike Moses, Steve Murdock, Keir Murray, Keats Norfleet, Pat Nugent, Todd Olsen, Gardner Pate, Jerod Patterson, Robert Peeler, Bill Pewitt, Tom Phillips, Wayne Pierce, Allen Place, Royce Poinsett, Gary Polland, Jay Pritchard, Jay Propes, Karen Reagan, Patrick Reinhart, David Reynolds, Carl Richie, Grant Ruckel, Tyler Ruud, Jason Sabo, Luis Saenz, Andy Sansom, Jim Sartwelle, Barbara Schlief, Stan Schlueter, Bruce Scott, Robert Scott, Steve Scurlock, Ben Sebree, Bradford Shields, Christopher Shields, Julie Shields, Jason Skaggs, Ed Small, Martha Smiley, Larry Soward, Dennis Speight, Tom Spilman, Jason Stanford, Bob Strauser, Colin Strother, Michael Quinn Sullivan, Sherry Sylvester, Gerard Torres, Trey Trainor, Vicki Truitt, Corbin Van Arsdale, Ken Whalen, David White, Darren Whitehurst, Woody Widrow, Seth Winick, Peck Young, Angelo Zottarelli.