Voters of the 10th Congressional District delivered a little "Texas Justice" of their own, electing U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Austin) to a third term. With nearly 100 percent of precincts reporting, McCaul received 54 percent of the vote, according to the Secretary of State. Democrat Larry Joe Doherty, a former Houston trial lawyer and TV court judge, won 43 percent.

"To win in this environment with so much support for Senator Obama is especially satisfying," McCaul said in a statement.  "Senator Obama is now going to be President. It's going to be important for me to work across the aisle in a bi-partisan way, and I have a track record of doing that." 

Doherty, a barnstorming and charismatic campaigner, waged an aggressive challenge against McCaul, who had never faced a well-funded Democratic challenger in his previous Congressional bids. McCaul was reelected in 2006 with 55 percent of the vote, and Democrats hoped Doherty might pull off an upset.

The 10th Congressional District spans from northeastern Travis County to northwestern Harris County. Doherty was expected to perform well in Democratically-friendly Travis, while McCaul's base was in the conservative edges of Harris. Perhaps an arbiter of the political atmosphere of the district, the Austin American-Statesman endorsed Doherty, while the Houston Chronicle went for McCaul.

National Democrats took notice of Doherty's race, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee added him to its Red to Blue program late in the cycle. A late October Research 2000 poll showed McCaul's lead had narrowed to just four points.

But McCaul held off the challenge, stressing he was an independent voice in television commercials that noted his opposition to the taxpayer bailout and wasteful spending. He spent much of the fall campaign away from the campaign trail, addressing crises such as Hurricane Ike and the financial bailout. McCaul crisscrossed the district in the final weeks of the campaign, appearing at campaign rallies and other events.

He turned down an invitation from the Austin American-Statesman to debate Doherty, citing scheduling conflicts.

Doherty's attacks on McCaul were often unsparing. In commercials and interviews, he tied McCaul to corporate greed, saying McCaul was responsible for the financial meltdown and gave a pass to regulating the financial services industry because of the contributions he took from Wall Street.

McCaul rarely mentioned Doherty until the end of the campaign. He called Doherty "desperate" in one campaign commercial. His campaign launched an attack website that among other things accused Doherty of racial insensitivity during his reign on "Texas Justice." Doherty maintained his own anti-McCaul website.

Both candidates raised hefty sums of money, but McCaul held a slight cash advantage.  As of Oct. 15, McCaul raised $1.4 million to Doherty's $1 million. Each had contributed in the neighborhood of $100,000 to their campaigns, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. McCaul is the richest member of the Texas Congressional delegation. And though he asked voters to reject "millionaire Mike McCaul," Doherty is a millionaire too.

Given McCaul's victory over a reasonably well-funded challenger, Democrats may wonder whether McCaul's seat is winnable. But McCaul understands his Republican-learning district, and he survived his toughest general election challenge yet. He is all the more battle-tested.