Patrick coasts to victory over Dewhurst

State Sen. Dan Patrick, of Houston, celebrates with Paul Bettencourt at Patrick's runoff celebration on May 27. State Sen. Dan Patrick, of Houston, celebrates with Paul Bettencourt at Patrick's runoff celebration on May 27. Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 66 Caption Close Patrick coasts to victory over Dewhurst 1 / 66 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN – State Sen. Dan Patrick, riding a wave of tea-party populism from relative obscurity as a Houston radio talk-show host to statewide prominence in just eight years, defeated incumbent David Dewhurst Tuesday to win the Republican nomination to become Texas' next lieutenant governor.

Dewhurst conceded defeat in a phone call to Patrick shortly after 8:30 p.m. He did not immediately promise to support Patrick.

He became the first statewide officeholder to lose in a party primary or runoff in years.

Minutes later, Patrick told the Houston Chronicle predicted his victory means presages a big win by Republicans in November.

"This election means we're going into November with a very strong ticket with candidates elected by the most conservative voter base in the nation and a team that can articulate the issues the way Texans want them to be," he said. "We're going to sweep the ticket in November This was a change election. Voters wanted a strong conservative policy in this state, and they've chosen bold conservative leaders to keep Texas moving ahead."

Patrick easily outpaced Dewhurst by more of a margin than was hinted at in pre-election polls last week.

The dramatic win, which came two months after Dewhurst came in a distant second in the March GOP primary, signaled a likely end to the career of Texas' No. 2 elected official, a multi-millionaire Houston energy businessman once seen as a likely choice to be governor.

Patrick's win came after months of campaigning that went nuclear in its final weeks, as details of his hospitalization twice during the 1980s for mental-health issues made headlines as part of a campaign by Dewhurst supporters to discredit him and raise issues about his ability to govern the turned the race into a nasty TV ad war in the closing weeks. That, however, seemed to only steel Patrick's support with die-hard, conservative GOP voters, and completed a campaign run that seemed a long shot to many when Patrick announced his candidacy late last summer.

Patrick will face state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a San Antonio Democrat, in the November general election.