Two days ago Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst failed to secure the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Now, Ted Cruz's win is having a domino effect in Texas politics. Several top state lawmakers were banking on Dewhurst's vacant seat, hoping they would fill what is arguably the most powerful position in Texas politics. Now, several questions loom: How is the party defined? What's next for the lieutenant governor? And, what state offices will be up for grabs in the next election cycle?

Our Alana Rocha spoke to James Henson of the Texas Politics Project about the ripple effect Cruz's win could have.

“In the aftermath of Dewhurst’s failure to win that nomination, everything is re-factored now. And it’s even more complicated by the fact that Dewhurst not only lost, but he lost to someone who really stood as somebody willing to criticize elected officials,” Henson said. “There’s no reason to think in the next cycle of statewide offices in 2014, which in many ways started yesterday, that there’s not going to be some incumbents being challenged because the Cruz campaign is going to have a strong demonstration effect for people.”

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With the runoff election barely in the books, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson wasted little time making his intentions clear. He joined us this week on "Capital Tonight."

"I'm fairly confident that Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, who I have a great deal of respect for, is not going to be on the ballot for lieutenant governor in 2014, so I don't think that's the choice I'll be needing to make. I've been talking about running for lieutenant governor since early 2011, there are other folks who have mentioned their interest as well and I just want to make sure that folks know that I'm serious when I say something and I'm have a great interest in the office," Patterson told us on this week's show.

Watch the video below to hear more from Patterson on why he says he's sticking with his bid.

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Harvey Kronberg, Harold Cook and Ted Delisi joined us for analysis. Watch them discuss the fallout from Tuesday's runoff election, plus San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro's invitation to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in September.

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