Texas 2018 Election Results

Texas held its general election on November 6, 2018, deciding 165 legislative seats and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans held every statewide office and both chambers, but Democrats cut the House majority to 83-67 and took two Senate seats, leaving Senate Republicans with no votes to spare. In January the House unanimously elected Dennis Bonnen (R) speaker, succeeding Joe Straus (R).
• Democrats' House gains were the biggest shift since 2010, and they came without losing a seat of their own:
  • North Texas: Democratic women picked off five of six seats. Democrats unseated Reps. Matt Rinaldi (R) (District 115, to Julie Johnson (D)), Ron Simmons (R) (District 65, to Michelle Beckley (D)), Rodney Anderson (R) (District 105, to Terry Meza (D)), and Linda Koop (R) (District 102, to Ana-Maria Ramos (D)), and took the open District 113 (Rhetta Bowers (D)) and District 114 (John Turner (D)).
  • Central Texas: Vikki Goodwin (D) unseated Rep. Paul Workman (R) (District 47) and John Bucy (D) unseated Rep. Tony Dale (R) (District 136); James Talarico (D) (District 52) and Erin Zwiener (D) (District 45) won open seats.
  • Houston: Jon Rosenthal (D) unseated Rep. Gary Elkins (R) (District 135), and Gina Calanni (D) unseated Rep. Mike Schofield (R) (District 132) by 113 votes, a lead that widened as absentee and provisional ballots were counted.
• In the Senate, Beverly Powell (D) unseated Sen. Konni Burton (R) in Tarrant County's Senate District 10 by about 3 points, and Nathan Johnson (D) unseated Sen. Don Huffines (R) in Dallas's Senate District 16 by about 8, removing two of the most conservative members. With 19 Republicans under the chamber's three-fifths rule, one Republican siding with Democrats could block a bill from reaching the floor.
• Republicans swept the statewide ballot in the party's closest statewide races in 20 years. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) beat Lupe Valdez (D) by about 13 points, but the races below him were tighter. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) beat Mike Collier (D) by about 5, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R) beat Kim Olson (D) by about 5. Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who had spent most of his term under criminal indictment for securities fraud, beat Justin Nelson (D) by under 4. Land Commissioner George P. Bush (R), Comptroller Glenn Hegar (R), and Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick (R) each won by about 9 to 11 points.
• All 14 legislative seats that changed parties went to Democrats, all 10 incumbents who lost were Republicans, and 48 races drew a single candidate. Beyond the flips, Republicans held 3 House seats by under a point: Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R) narrowly held onto his seat in District 138 by 47 votes over Adam Milasincic (D), and Reps. Morgan Meyer (R) (District 108) and Matt Shaheen (R) (District 66) each survived by a few hundred votes. Texas had no statewide ballot measures in 2018.

Legislature

• House (150 seats): 55 D, 93 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 66 D, 83 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (31 seats): 10 D, 20 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 12 D, 19 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races