Things to know from Tuesday's Texas primaries

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas kicked off primary season ahead of the 2018 midterm election, with implications for Democrats and Republicans alike in an election year perhaps altering the direction of Congress and statehouses around the country for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term.

Things worth keeping an eye on Tuesday as Texans cast ballots:

TRUMP AND TURNOUT

Democrats remain underdogs to knock off Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott, but there's been a surge in numbers of Democratic candidates and voters reflecting nationwide momentum for the left since Trump's election.

There is at least one Democratic candidate in every congressional district, 36 of them, for the first time since 1992. Democrats have 25 contested congressional primaries, and Senate nominee Beto O'Rourke raised $2.4 million in the final three months of 2017, more than Cruz's $1.9 million haul.

"We have candidates everywhere, and that means we are reaching voters who haven't heard from Democrats in a long time," said Texas Democratic Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. "That's a good thing for November."

The president won Texas during the 2016 nominating process and in the November election. Now he's a central figure in midterm primaries. Republican Congressional candidates across the state have pledged fealty to the president.

It's most obvious in the Republican House primaries for seats opened by retiring GOP incumbents. One example is Kathaleen Wall, who is running for a southeast Texas seat now held by Rep. Ted Poe. One of her 30-second ads alternates between images of Trump and Wall, while a voiceover offers attributes of the two: "Successful businessman. Successful businesswoman. ... Talks tough (Trump). Aims tough (Wall, wielding a rifle). Loudly strong (Trump). Quietly strong (Wall). Great hair (Trump). Greater hair (Wall)."

LIBERAL INFLUENCES

It's not uncommon for the Democrats' House campaign arm to have favorites in a primary, but they stepped beyond recently, openly criticizing a Democratic hopeful in a Houston-area seat held by Republican John Culberson.

In a memo posted online, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called Laura Moser a "Washington insider" and blasted her comments published in a 2014 Washingtonian magazine article. Moser said she'd "rather have her teeth pulled out" than live in rural Paris, Texas. Party aides say the comments would be used by Republicans to make Moser unelectable in the 7th Congressional District, but their intervention has miffed Texas Democrats, including some of her opponents.

Liberal groups also have cried foul. Moser is running to the left of other leading candidates, and Our Revolution, Sen. Bernie Sanders' political organization, endorsed her in the wake of the DCCC memo.

The battle is sure to intensify if Moser qualifies for an expected runoff.

SHAKY HOUSE DISTRICTS

Three Texas congressional seats -- the 7th District in metro Houston, the 23rd District from San Antonio across border country and the 32nd District near Dallas-Fort Worth -- are among the 23 Republican-held seats nationally that sided with Hillary Clinton over Trump in the 2016 presidential race.

Democrats need to flip 24 GOP-seats to reclaim a majority in the U.S. House.

The Houston seat is likely headed to a runoff. The question is whether Moser, the liberal criticized by national Democrats, is among the two candidates. The San Antonio-border country seat could yield a runoff, as well, between Gina Ortiz Jones, an Air Force veteran, and Jay Hulings, a former federal prosecutor.

In statewide offices, Abbott easily won the Republican nomination for a second term and so did Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, as both faced only token opposition. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was under felony indictment on charges of securities fraud, is unopposed in the primary.

Democrats have not won a statewide office in Texas since 1994, the longest streak in the country.