Texas 2014 Election Results

Texas held its general election on November 4, 2014, deciding 165 legislative seats and 6 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans swept every statewide office and widened both legislative majorities, to 98-52 in the House and 20-11 in the Senate, leaving them a single vote short of a Senate supermajority.
• Greg Abbott (R) beat Wendy Davis (D) by about 20 points for the open governorship. Davis, a state senator who rose to fame with an 11-hour filibuster of an abortion bill, never came close, and the night marked the 10th straight GOP statewide sweep since 1996. Down the ballot, George P. Bush (R), whose grandfather and uncle were both president, won the land commissioner's office, and Ken Paxton (R), Glenn Hegar (R), and Sid Miller (R) won the open attorney general, comptroller, and agriculture commissioner offices.
• Sen. Dan Patrick (R) won the lieutenant governor's race and vowed to push to repeal the two-thirds rule, which required 21 of 31 senators to agree before a bill could reach the floor. He campaigned with Tea Party backing, had ousted Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the primary runoff, and beat Leticia Van de Putte (D) by about 19 points. Tea Party challengers had also ousted two Republican senators in the primaries: Don Huffines (R) beat Sen. John Carona (R), and Bob Hall (R) beat Sen. Bob Deuell (R) in a runoff. In January 2015, the Senate scrapped the rule by 20 to 10, so 19 senators, fewer than the new Republican majority, could now bring a bill to the floor.
• All 4 legislative seats that changed party went from Democrats to Republicans, and two Democratic House incumbents lost:
  • Konni Burton (R), a Tea Party activist, beat Libby Willis (D) by about 8 points for Davis's open seat in Senate District 10.
  • Gilbert Peña (R) ousted Mary Ann Perez (D) by about 150 votes in House District 144.
  • Rick Galindo (R) defeated Philip Cortez (D) by about 1,300 votes in House District 117.
  • Wayne Faircloth (R) beat Susan Criss (D) by about 9 points in House District 23, a coastal seat opened by Craig Eiland's departure.
• Voters approved Proposition 1, the only measure on the ballot, by roughly four to one. It dedicates oil-boom tax revenue to roads, with a first payment estimated at $1.7 billion.

Legislature

• House (150 seats): 55 D, 95 R before the election, 50 D, 97 R, 3 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (31 seats): 12 D, 19 R before the election, 11 D, 20 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures