Ted Cruz the former state solicitor general and darling of the Tea Party has forced a primary runoff election against David Dewhurst the state’s Lt. Governor. The runoff will decide who will represent the GOP in the Senate race in Texas.

Dewhurst has been the favorite throughout the race and easily defeated Cruz on Tuesday, but fell short of the needed 50% margin to avoid facing a runoff. The two emerged from a field of nine Republicans and will face one another in the runoff on July 31.

There will be another nine weeks of the Republican primary that has drawn much national attention, as a victory for Cruz would mirror Richard Mourdock ousting Richard Lugar the 36-year veteran of the Senate from Indiana.

Dewhurst is a millionaire who owns an energy consortium and won Governor Rick Perry’s endorsement. He has spent over $15 million of personal money in his campaign. Cruz is a feisty attorney who spent only $470,000 of his own money, but received millions from national support groups, including Club for Growth the anti-tax group. He received endorsements from the Tea Party Express, Jim DeMint a Senator from South Carolina and Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska.

For the Democrats, no candidate won the majority in the field of four and that set up a runoff between Grady Yarbrough, the perennial candidate and Paul Sadler a former state Representative. A Democrat has not been elected from Texas to the U.S. Senate since 1988 when Lloyd Bentsen won.