Do you know about drop-outs in primaries? Would the one that didn’t drop out automatically become the winner? That doesn’t seem legal, what if the one that dropped out was, say, comatized today or before the runoff?
That's my understanding.
Marcella is the Texas elections instructor. She may have better information than I do.
/johnny
I will await Marcella's answer to this. Like Johnny says, she's the instructor on this.
I’ll give you an example: in the Louisiana gubernatorial primary in 1987, Buddy Roemer finished first with about 33 percent; Edwin Edwards, second, with maybe 30 percent. Edwards withdrew, and Roemer became not only the nominee but the holder of the office, as LA has a jungle primary system. Can you name an instance where a No. 3 candidate moved up to No. 2 to enter a runoff with a No. 1 candidatde? No, because it has never happened.