You call that momentum, Pete?

She’s got a tough fight ahead of her in the general election, but for now lesbian Sheriff Lupe Valdez has to be feeling some degree of vindication — at least when it comes to The Dallas Morning News, which has continually dogged her since she took office. Not only did Valdez win the Democratic Primary outright and avoid a runoff, but the candidate endorsed by The Morning News, Pete Schulte, finished in fourth place — or dead last. This is the same Pete Schulte who told me a few weeks before the primary: “We have the momentum in this campaign.” Schulte got 10.5 percent of the vote.

Here’s another interesting thing: If you look at what are considered the six most heavily gay precincts in Dallas County, it’s pretty clear Valdez’s support in the LGBT community provided a big boost. Valdez captured 74 percent of the vote in the “gay precincts,” or 3,390 votes to 2,496 votes for the other three candidates combined. If you think that didn’t make a difference in this race, consider the fact that Valdez only avoided a runoff by less than 1 percentage point countywide, or less than 2,000 votes.

— John Wright