Texas 2016 Election Results

Texas held its general election on November 8, 2016, deciding 166 legislative seats and the office of Railroad Commissioner. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• House Democrats picked up seats, leaving the chamber at 95-55, but the Texas Tribune judged the gains unlikely to make much of a difference in the chamber's overall politics. The Senate stayed at 20-11.
• Democrats ousted four Republican incumbents in the House:
  • Victoria Neave (D) beat Kenneth Sheets (R) by about 840 votes in House District 107, the most expensive House race in the state.
  • Three rematches ousted half of the House's six Hispanic Republicans: Philip Cortez (D) beat Rick Galindo (R) by about 3 points in House District 117; Tomas Uresti (D) beat John Lujan (R) by about 10 points in House District 118; and Mary Ann Perez (D) beat Gilbert Peña (R) by about 20 points in House District 144.
• In House District 120, Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D) unseated Rep. Laura Thompson (I) by about 55 points. Thompson had won an August special election to become the first independent to win a Texas legislative seat in more than 50 years, then was arrested on a family assault charge in October.
• Two Republican incumbents held on narrowly. Rodney Anderson (R) kept House District 105 by 64 votes, and Terry Meza (D) conceded after a recount confirmed the margin. Matt Rinaldi (R) held House District 115 by about 1,050 votes. Of the 166 legislative races, 88 had only one candidate on the ballot.
• In the only statewide race, former state Rep. Wayne Christian (R) beat Grady Yarbrough (D) by about 15 points to win the race for railroad commissioner. He succeeded David Porter on the three-member agency that oversees the state's oil and gas industry.

Legislature

• House (150 seats): 51 D, 99 R before the election, 56 D, 94 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (31 seats): 11 D, 20 R before the election, 11 D, 20 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races