Rafael "Ted" Cruz won the Republican nomination for the US Senate in Texas yesterday over another conservative, Lt. Gov David Dewhurst.
Cruz is considered a "slam-dunk" winner in November, so will join fellow Cuban-American Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the second Republican United States Senator.

Most polls showed the election in a dead heat.  As I posted on WOWO yesterday, it appeared that Cruz was emerging late just as Mourdock did over Lugar in Indiana's Republican primary.  That turned out to be the case.  The final margin was 57% to 43%, a political blow-out when every poll except one had show it to be tied.  PPP, a Democrat polling firm, was the only one - with a late poll - to detect a trend for Cruz.  The strange timing of the primary run-off probably meant that the Tea Party and conservative backed Cruz had an "intensity" advantage.

It was not the seeming "slam dunk" upset that Mourdock came to be for several reasons, in spite of efforts to make him like Mourdock.   1) Cruz had never held elective office whereas Mourdock was an incumbent state treasurer who won statewide twice, as well as a local elected county commissioner 2) The Bush family (powers in Texas) and Governor Perry thru all their weight behind Dewhurst 3) It is important to note that if Indiana election law had applied DEWHURST would have won because he led the first round by 10 points 4) Both candidates were conservatives - for example, Mike Huckabee backed Dewhurst as well as Perry, who had crushed retiring Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson in a race for Governor as the conservative candidate.

This you probably won't read in other media: Rafael "Ted" Cruz grew up in a Houston Baptist Church, accepting Christ at age 8.  He now attends a Spanish=language church pastored by his father.  Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family , was a key backer.  You will likely read about the Tea Party and Rand Paul, but this guy is a religious conservative, not just anti-government.  When the factions separate, as they did in Nebraska, the social conservative defeated the Tea Party candidate.

One other point.  The election of a Hispanic Republican in Texas is another step to preparing the Republican Party for long-term leadership.  For all the rhetoric of the left, the Republicans - conservative Republicans - are electing pro-life conservative minorities and women as Governors (Martinez in New Mexico, Sandoval in Nevada, Nikki Haley in South Carolina - still my sleeper pick for Romney VP) and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana) and the US Senate led by current Senator Marco Rubio.