Goodhair won yesterday, but it isn’t all roses for him:

McLeroy, Miller upset in SBOE elections

Thomas Ratliff upset State Board of Education member Don McLeroy in a Republican primary nail-biter.

McLeroy, a dentist from Bryan, lost by about 800 votes. No Democrat has filed for the District 9 race so Ratliff will take the seat next year.

Appointed board chairman in 2007, McLeroy has been the poster-child for the board’s conservative bloc with his affable tone but strident ideology. Last year, his nomination as chairman was blocked by Democrats in the Texas Senate.

His defeat is substantial blow to the conservatives, who have largely driven the recent rewrites of curriculum standards. Ratliff, son of former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, has made it clear that he will be a more moderate vote on the closely divided 15-member board.

Dallas Republican Geraldine Miller, a member of the board’s moderate faction, lost to teacher George Clayton in that primary, the Associated Press announced around 12:30 p.m. There is no Democrat contending for this seat, either.

Miller has been a fixture on the board since 1984 and the surge by Clayton was not expected.

McLeroy’s fellow nutburger, Cynthia Dunbar, appears headed for a runoff.