Today is election day for three members of the Texas Supreme Court, and the early returns (with 23% of the vote counted at 9:15 p.m.) show them each coasting toward re-election.

For place 3, Debra Lehrmann (61.77%) leads Jim Sharp (35.63%). For place 5, Paul Green (61.92%) leads Bill Moody (35.35%). And for place 9, Eva Guzman (62.04%) leads Blake Bailey (34.15%).

Those numbers are fairly similar to the current statewide totals for other Republican incumbents, with the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and other incumbents with contested races (other than the Governor) with totals in the 61% to 65% range. The governor’s race is only slightly tighter, with Rick Perry over 57%.

(I’m posting a few other election-related thoughts on the blog’s twitter feed as things unfold. I’ll also have a wrap-up post tomorrow.)

Early voting starts today in Texas for all races on the November ballot, including the three seats up for election on the Texas Supreme Court.

So far, the fall campaigns — at least for the Texas Supreme Court — have generated less media interest than did the primary contests. I’ve tried to keep up with the most recent stories on the blog’s “Elections 2010” page, but I have probably missed some coverage. (If you see something that I should add, feel free to send me an email.)

The Texas Tribune has published an interview with soon-to-be-Justice Debra Lehrmann. Judge Lehrmann will join the Court on June 21, 2010 to serve the remainder of Justice O’Neill’s current term, standing for reelection this November.

The Tribune’s interview format is a nice hybrid between a traditional article and a transcript. It condenses and distills some key points, but also embeds short audio clips that give more context for her answers.

Today, Governor Perry announced the appointment of district judge Debra Lehrmann to be a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, effective June 21, 2010.

Judge Lehrmann will be assuming Place 3, the seat of Justice O”Neill, who a few weeks ago formally notified the Governor that she would be stepping down on June 20, 2010.

Place 3 is up for election this fall, and Justice Lehrmann is already the Republican nominee for that seat. On the fall ballot, she is opposed by Justice Jim Sharp (D) and William Strange (L).

More links about the election, including a short Q&A with soon-to-be Justice Lehrmann, are collected on our Elections 2010 page.

The turnout for the runoff in the 2010 Texas Republican primary was 2.55% of registered Texas voters. So it’s no surprise that the Secretary of State was able to count 100% of the ballots before the midnight hour.

The results:

The news was easy to follow on Twitter, with the AP calling the race, with Debra Lehrmann making a statement, and with Rick Green making his own.

The Texas Tribune has a map showing the runoff election results by county. Get it while it’s hot.

Tomorrow is the primary runoff day in Texas, and the only statewide race on either party’s ballot is the contest between former Representative Rick Green of Dripping Springs and Judge Debra Lehrmann of Fort Worth for the Republican nomination for Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court.

Turnout is not expected to be heavy; some pundits suggest that the statewide race may be decided by those areas of the state that happen to also have other runoff races, such as for state representative, that might drive more voters to the polls.

I have updated the “2010 Elections” page with a few more articles about the runoff. Once the returns start coming in tomorrow, I will be talking about them on the blog’s twitter feed and (eventually) in a wrap-up blog post here.

There were two contested primary elections for the Texas Supreme Court. The results are:

Place 3

In a remarkably close six-way election, Rick Green and Debra Lehrmann appear set for an April 13th runoff for the Republican nomination to Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court.

With 99.98% (all but two) of Texas’s precincts reporting: (( Updated to reflect numbers accurate as of 12:48 p.m. on March 3. As votes continue to trickle in, the numbers have closed slightly, with Lehrmann down from 18.22% to 18.20% and Moseley up from 18.12% to 18.13%. ))

The top two vote getters make the runoff. Rick Green finished first with 18.96%. (( This was a six-way race, so everyone expected a runoff, but the evenness of this race was pretty remarkable. I am going to study those numbers a little more, once they are finalized. ))

The margin between 2nd (Debra Lehrmann) and 3rd (Jim Moseley) to qualify for the runoff appears to be just about 1,000 votes out of more than 1.1 million votes cast in this primary. The margin between 3rd (Jim Moseley) and 4th (Rebecca Simmons) is roughly the same.

That’s a very thin margin, and these results might still change as provisional ballots or other votes are counted.

The winner of the April 13th runoff will face Jim Sharp (D) and William Strange (L) on the November ballot.

Place 9

As noted last night, Justice Eva Guzman has staved off a primary challenge from Rose Vela.

Justice Guzman will face Blake Bailey (D) and Jack Armstrong (L) on the November ballot.

I’ve been hitting “reload” on the Secretary of State’s website this evening, and I’ve tweeted a few updates as the Place 3 race has changed. A runoff is a certainty. Which candidates will appear on that ballot remains too close to call. Rick Green and Debra Lehrmann are in the lead as I write this (around midnight, with 85% of the vote counted).

In Place 9, Eva Guzman has held off a challenge from Rose Vela to hold the Republican nomination for the fall. At this point, Guzman has roughly 65% of the vote to Vela’s 35%.