71.   The governor has tried repeatedly throughout the fall to win over Schmoke and Curry, whose populous jurisdictions have become crucial factors in statewide races in recent years.

72.   The November general election in Texas will be watched closely as the first statewide races in the post-Bush era.

73.   The most competitive of the three statewide races is for attorney general.

74.   The other statewide race of interest is for the nonpartisan superintendent of public instruction.

75.   The Reform Party, seen as being in shambles before Tuesday, won no other statewide race.

76.   The remaining coverage was split between statewide races, municipal races and ballot initiatives.

77.   The Republican incumbent, Sen. John Ashcroft, has won five statewide races and the Democratic challenger, Mel Carnahan, has won four.

78.   The Republicans also won every statewide race, captured both houses of the state legislature and more than two-thirds of the congressional seats.

79.   The poll shows that Fong, as the lone candidate to have run and won a statewide race, is the strongest of the group.

80.   The trouble is that in a state the size of Texas, fiscal reality would limit any system to statewide races.