Those wacky Texas Republicans were at it again Tuesday. There’s so much to say about the election, but we’ll start with this: What in the world produced the Railroad Commission upset of incumbent Victor Carrillo in the Republican primary?

Carrillo is a one-time Taylor County judge, geologist and lawyer. He has served a stint as chairman of the three-member Railroad Commission. He’s smart, savvy and well-versed on the energy issues for which the RRC is responsible.

But he lost the renomination battle to a guy from Giddings, accountant David Porter, who spent next to zero money and almost as little time campaigning for the office.

Does that remind you of anything? Oh yes. How about the 2002 state Supreme Court Republican primary race between Justice Xavier Rodriguez and challenger Steven Wayne Smith? Rodriguez was appointed to the seat by Gov. Rick Perry. He was supremely qualified. He, too, lost to a no-name upstart who barely campaigned for the office.

The prevailing feeling then was that Smith won because Rodriguez’s surname worked against him. Carrillo predicted something like that would might occur now, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Well, did it?

One can draw only that conclusion, given that Porter lacks the qualifications and knowledge that the incumbent possesses.

If so, it is a sad testimony to prejudice.