The Harris County district attorney’s race turned out mostly as many predicted, with prosecutor Chuck Rosenthal facing former Judge Pat Lykos in a runoff, but that contest and some judicial races still had a few twists. Criminal defense lawyer Jim Leitner, a dark horse candidate but sentimental favorite among much of the bar, posted a respectable third place, outperforming the high-dollar campaign of Assistant County Attorney Michael Stafford.
And in the biggest upset of the Republican primary in Harris County judicial contests, Jim Barr, who was removed from his criminal bench, defeated one-term incumbent Justice Maurice Amidei of the 14th Court of Appeals for a runoff bid.
