2022 Texas Senate election

The 2022 Texas Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022.

2022 Texas Senate election

← 2020 November 8, 2022 2024 →
All of the 31 seats in the Texas Senate 16 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Larry Taylor Carol Alvarado Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 11th–Friendswood 6th–Houston Last election 18 seats, 53.28% 13 seats, 44.59% Seats before 18 13 Seats won 19 12 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 2,948,643 2,287,700 Percentage 54.06% 41.94% Swing 0.78% 2.65%
Results by seat gains Results by vote share      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Republican gain Republican:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      ≥90% Democratic:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90%      ≥90%

Under the provisions of the Constitution of Texas, all 31 senate districts across the state of Texas were up for re-election, as the election was the first after the decennial United States Census. Numerous other federal, state, and local elections were also held on this date. The winners of this election served in the 88th Texas Legislature, with seats apportioned among the 2020 United States census. Republicans had held a majority in the Texas Senate since January 14, 1997, as a result of the 1996 elections.

Retirements

As of April 2022, six state senators, including four Republicans and two Democrats, decided to retire, one of whom sought another office.

Republicans

• District 11: Larry Taylor retired.^[1]
• District 12: Jane Nelson retired.^[2]
• District 24: Dawn Buckingham retired to run for Texas Land Commissioner.^[3]
• District 31: Kel Seliger retired.^[4]

Democrats

• District 10: Beverly Powell retired.^[5]
• District 27: Eddie Lucio Jr. retired.^[6]

Predictions

Redistricting greatly reduced the number of competitive seats in the state, making it almost certain that the chamber would remain in Republican hands.

Statewide

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[7]	Safe R	May 19, 2022
CNalysis	Safe R	Nov. 7, 2022

Competitive districts

District	Incumbent	2020 Pres.[8]	CNalysis[9]	Result
19th	Roland Gutierrez	55.81% D	Likely D	55.39% D
27th	Eddie Lucio Jr. (retiring)	51.75% D	Lean R (flip)	50.19% D

Results summary

Summary of the November 8, 2022 Texas Senate election results

Party		Candidates	Votes		Seats
			No.	%	Before	Won	After	+/–
	Republican	27	2,948,643	54.06	18	19	19	1
	Democratic	22	2,287,700	41.94	13	12	12	1
	Libertarian	6	217,910	4.00	0	0	0
Total			5,454,253	100.00	31	31	31
Source:

Popular vote Republican   54.06% Democratic   41.94% Libertarian   4.00%

Senate seats won Republican   61.29% Democratic   38.71%

Close races

District	Winner	Margin
District 27	Democratic	0.38%

By district

District	Incumbent				Candidates[a]
	Member	Party	First elected	Status
1	Bryan Hughes	Republican	2016	Incumbent running	▌Y Bryan Hughes (Republican)[10]
2	Bob Hall	Republican	2014	Incumbent running	▌Y Bob Hall (Republican) 61.9%[11] ▌ Prince Giadolor (Democratic) 38.1%[12]
3	Robert Nichols	Republican	2006	Incumbent running	▌Y Robert Nichols (Republican) 77.4%[13] ▌ Steve Russell (Democratic) 21.2% ▌ Desarae Lindsey (Libertarian) 1.4%[14]
4	Brandon Creighton	Republican	2014 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Brandon Creighton (Republican) 69.9%[15] ▌ Misty Bishop (Democratic) 30.1%
5	Charles Schwertner	Republican	2012	Incumbent running	▌Y Charles Schwertner (Republican) 71.6% ▌ Tommy Estes (Libertarian) 28.4%
6	Carol Alvarado	Democratic	2018 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Carol Alvarado (Democratic)
7	Paul Bettencourt	Republican	2014	Incumbent running	▌Y Paul Bettencourt (Republican)[16]
8	Angela Paxton	Republican	2018	Incumbent running	▌Y Angela Paxton (Republican) 57.7% ▌ Jonathan Cocks (Democratic) 39.5% ▌ Edward Kless (Libertarian) 2.9%
9	Kelly Hancock	Republican	2012	Incumbent running	▌Y Kelly Hancock (Republican) 60.0% ▌ Gwenn Burud (Democratic) 40.0%
10	Beverly Powell	Democratic	2018	Incumbent retiring[5] Republican gain.	▌Y Phil King (Republican)[17]
11	Larry Taylor	Republican	2012	Incumbent retiring[1]	▌Y Mayes Middleton (Republican)[1]
12	Jane Nelson	Republican	1992	Incumbent retiring[2]	▌Y Tan Parker (Republican) 61.4%[18] ▌ Francine Ly (Democratic) 38.6%
13	Borris Miles	Democratic	2016	Incumbent running	▌Y Borris Miles (Democratic)
14	Sarah Eckhardt	Democratic	2020 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Sarah Eckhardt (Democratic) 82.2% ▌ Steven E. Haskett (Libertarian) 17.8%
15	John Whitmire	Democratic	1982	Incumbent running	▌Y John Whitmire (Democratic) 65.3%[19] ▌ George Vachris (Republican) 34.7%
16	Nathan Johnson	Democratic	2018	Incumbent running	▌Y Nathan Johnson (Democratic) 61.9% ▌ Brandon Copeland (Republican) 38.1%
17	Joan Huffman	Republican	2008 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Joan Huffman (Republican) 65.3% ▌ Titus Benton (Democratic) 34.7%
18	Lois Kolkhorst	Republican	2014	Incumbent running	▌Y Lois Kolkhorst (Republican) 66.2% ▌ Josh Tutt (Democratic) 33.8%[20]
19	Roland Gutierrez	Democratic	2020	Incumbent running	▌Y Roland Gutierrez (Democratic) 55.4% ▌ Robert Garza (Republican) 44.6%
20	Juan Hinojosa	Democratic	2002	Incumbent running	▌Y Juan Hinojosa (Democratic) 59.2%[21] ▌ Westley Wright (Republican) 40.8%
21	Judith Zaffirini	Democratic	1986	Incumbent running	▌Y Judith Zaffirini (Democratic) 61.6%[22] ▌ Julie Dahlberg (Republican) 35.9% ▌ Arthur DiBianca (Libertarian) 2.5%
22	Brian Birdwell	Republican	2010 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Brian Birdwell (Republican) 74.3%[23] ▌ Jeremy Schroppel (Libertarian) 25.7%
23	Royce West	Democratic	1992	Incumbent running	▌Y Royce West (Democratic)
24	Dawn Buckingham	Republican	2016	Incumbent retiring to run for Texas Land Commissioner[3]	▌Y Pete Flores (Republican) 64.3%[24] ▌ Kathy Jones-Hospod (Democratic) 35.7%
25	Donna Campbell	Republican	2012	Incumbent running	▌Y Donna Campbell (Republican) 62.8% ▌ Robert Walsh (Democratic) 37.2%
26	Jose Menendez	Democratic	2015 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Jose Menendez (Democratic) 66.5% ▌ Ashton Murray (Republican) 33.5%
27	Eddie Lucio Jr.	Democratic	1990	Incumbent retiring[25]	▌Y Morgan Lamantia (Democratic) 50.2%[26] ▌ Adam Hinojosa (Republican) 49.8%
28	Charles Perry	Republican	2014 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Charles Perry (Republican)[27]
29	Cesar Blanco	Democratic	2020	Incumbent running	▌Y Cesar Blanco (Democratic) 64.1%[28] ▌ Derek Zubeldia (Republican) 35.9%
30	Drew Springer	Republican	2020 (special)	Incumbent running	▌Y Drew Springer (Republican)[29]
31	Kel Seliger	Republican	2004	Incumbent retiring[4]	▌Y Kevin Sparks (Republican)[30]

District 27

2022 Texas's 27th senate district election

← 2020 2024 →

Nominee Morgan LaMantia Adam Hinojosa Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 88,037 87,378 Percentage 50.19% 49.81%

County results LaMantia:      50–60%      60–70% Hinojosa:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

Texas Senator before election Eddie Lucio Jr. Democratic Party Elected Texas Senator Morgan LaMantia Democratic Party

Incumbent Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr., often considered the most conservative Democrat in the Texas Senate, announced he would not run for re-election in November 2021.^[31][32] Lucio was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Texas' abortion laws and school voucher legislation, but all three Democrats running to replace him were pro-choice. He endorsed Morgan LaMantia despite her views on abortion, considering her to be the most moderate of the three, and she won the primary in a runoff.^[33] She faced Republican Adam Hinojosa in the general election, who campaigned as part of a Republican effort to capitalize on Donald Trump's strong performance in the Rio Grande Valley in the 2020 election to flip multiple legislative and congressional seats in the region.^[34]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Morgan LaMantia (D)	Adam Hinojosa (R)	Undecided
Ragnar Research Partners (R)[A]	August 23–25, 2022	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	38%	43%	19%

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Generic Democrat	Generic Republican	Undecided
Ragnar Research Partners (R)[A]	August 23–25, 2022	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	46%	41%	12%

Hypothetical polling

Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican

LaMantia won the election by an extremely narrow margin, a result which was not confirmed until after a December recount.^[35][36]

Texas's 27th Senate District, 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Morgan LaMantia	88,037	50.19%
	Republican	Adam Hinojosa	87,378	49.81%
Total votes			175,415	100.00%
	Democratic hold

See also

• 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas
• 2022 Texas gubernatorial election
• 2022 Texas Attorney General election
• 2022 United States state legislative elections
• 2022 Texas House of Representatives election
• 2022 Texas elections

Notes

1. Declared candidates may seek election from other district, subject to redistricting. Some districts may have no incumbents, while some other may have multiple incumbents due to redistricting.
2. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Notes

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by Hinojosa's campaign

References

1. Svitek, Patrick (November 30, 2021). "Longtime state Sen. Larry Taylor, best known for his work on education issues, says he won't run for reelection". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
2. Garrett, Robert (July 5, 2021). "Veteran Denton County GOP lawmaker Jane Nelson will not seek 11th term in Texas Senate". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
3. Lindell, Chuck (June 7, 2021). "State Sen. Dawn Buckingham to run for Texas land commissioner". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
4. Barragán, James (October 20, 2021). "Texas state Sen. Kel Seliger, a Republican willing to buck his party leadership, will not seek reelection". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
5. Barragán, James (April 6, 2022). ""Unwinnable race": State Sen. Beverly Powell of Burleson ends reelection bid, citing redrawn political map". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on April 9, 2022. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
6. Bova, Gus (November 16, 2021). "The Texas Senate's Most Conservative Democrat Is Retiring". Texas Observer. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
7. Jacobson, Louis (May 19, 2022). "The Battle for State Legislatures". Retrieved May 19, 2022.
8. "2022-2023 Election Data". cnalysis. February 29, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
9. "22 TX Forecast". projects.cnalysis.com. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
10. Gary Bass (November 12, 2021). "State Sen. Bryan Hughes announces plans to seek re-election". KLTV. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
11. "Hall announces campaign for re-election". Herald Banner. September 20, 2021. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
12. "Giadolor announces run for state senate". Herald Banner. September 20, 2021.
13. "Nichols announces campaign for re-election". Palestine Herald-Press. June 25, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
14. "Candidate Desarae Lindsey Files for Texas Senate Dist. 3". Liberty Vindicator. December 10, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
15. Ontiveros, Brooke (June 10, 2021). "'Unfinished business remains': Brandon Creighton aims at re-election for Texas Senate District 4". Community Impact.
16. Hannah Zedaker (June 7, 2021). "Paul Bettencourt to seek re-election for Texas Senate District 7". Community Impact Newspaper. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
17. Patrick Svitek (September 27, 2021). "GOP state Rep. Phil King announces he'll run for new Republican-friendly Senate seat held by Democrat Beverly Powell". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
18. Morris, Allie (July 7, 2021). "GOP Rep. Tan Parker to seek Senate seat being vacated by North Texas lawmaker Jane Nelson". The Dallas Morning News.
19. McGuinness, Dylan; Scherer, Jasper (November 19, 2021). "State Sen. John Whitmire announces he will run for mayor of Houston in 2023". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
20. Cat DeLaura (December 9, 2021). "Democrat Josh Tutt announces his intention to run against Kolkhorst". The Victoria Advocate. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
21. "Hinojosa announces reelection bid for state senate". MyRGV.com. June 9, 2021.
22. "Zaffirini files for reelection to Texas senate". MyRGV.com. November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
23. Roland Richter (June 18, 2021). "State Senator Bryan Birdwell announces running for re-election". KWKT-TV. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
24. Jackie Wang (September 21, 2021). "Former state Sen. Pete Flores says he's running for proposed Senate District 24". San Antonio Report.
25. Svitek, Patrick (November 4, 2021). "Eddie Lucio Jr. to retire after three decades in Texas Senate". www.texastribune.com. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
26. "LaMantia Enters Democratic Primary For Eddie Lucio's State Senate Seat". KURV. November 18, 2021.
27. "Texas Senator Charles Perry announces re-election". KCBD. September 29, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
28. Anthony Jackson (October 29, 2021). "Texas state Sen. César Blanco of El Paso announces reelection campaign". El Paso Times. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
29. "SEN. DREW SPRINGER ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR THE TEXAS SENATE". Olney Enterprise. October 14, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
30. Stewart Doreen (August 13, 2021). "Midland's Kevin Sparks to run for state senate". Midland Reporter-Telegram.
31. Svitek, Patrick (November 4, 2021). "Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr., known for voting with Republicans on key issues, to retire after three decades in Texas Senate". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
32. Davila, Gaige (November 5, 2021). "Progressives hope Texas State Senator Eddie Lucio Jr.'s retirement signals new era". TPR. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
33. Svitek, Patrick (May 25, 2022). "Moderate Democrats win two key South Texas runoffs, while another is too close to call". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
34. Svitek, Patrick (October 23, 2022). "Donald Trump energizes South Texas voters ahead of early voting as Republicans predict red "tsunami"". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
35. Clark, Steve (November 9, 2022). "LaMantia edges out Hinojosa: District 27 state Senate race was a squeaker". MyRGV.com. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
36. Yañez, Alejandra (December 14, 2022). "LaMantia remains winner after recount for Senate District 27". KVEO-TV. Retrieved February 13, 2024.