The 2020 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in 16 of the 31 state senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 87th Texas Legislature. State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate. Those elected in 2020 will only be elected for two years, however, as part of the 2-4-4 term system. A statewide map of Texas's state Senate districts can be obtained from the Texas Legislative Council. and individual district maps can be obtained from the U.S. Census.
Following the 2018 state senate elections, Republicans maintained effective control of the Senate with 19 members. To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats would have needed to net four Senate seats.
The Democratic Party gained one seat (District 19), leaving the Republicans with an 18 to 13 majority in the chamber. This broke Republican's effective supermajority in the chamber, as legislation typically requires 19 votes, three fifths, to pass the chamber. At the urging of lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, the senate voted to reduce this threshold to 18, just as he had done to reduce the threshold from 21 to 19 during the 2015 session.
Retirements One incumbent did not run for re-election in 2020:
Democrats District 29: José R. Rodríguez: Retiring
Incumbents defeated In the general election Republicans District 19: Pete Flores lost to Roland Gutierrez.
Predictions Despite the state's competitive elections for President and House of Representatives, analysts considered the Texas Senate extremely unlikely to flip control due to the small number of competitive seats up for election in 2020. SourceRankingAs of The Cook Political ReportOctober 21, 2020Sabato's Crystal BallMay 7, 2020
Results summary
+ Summary of the November 3, 2020 Texas Senate election results Party Candidates Votes Seats % Before Up Won After +/– Republican 14 2,660,120 53.28 19 9 8 18 1 Democratic 15 2,226,640 44.59 12 7 8 13 1 Libertarian 4 57,147 1.14 0 0 0 0 Green 1 49,202 0.99 0 0 0 0 Total 4,993,109 100.00 31 16 16 31 Source: Texas Elections Results
Close races
District Winner Margin District 19 Democratic (flip) 3.29%
Summary of results by State Senate District State Senate DistrictIncumbent PartyElected Senator Party 1st Bryan Hughes Rep Bryan Hughes Rep 4th Brandon Creighton Rep Brandon Creighton Rep 6th Carol Alvarado Dem Carol Alvarado Dem 11th Larry Taylor Rep Larry Taylor Rep 12th Jane Nelson Rep Jane Nelson Rep 13th Borris Miles Dem Borris Miles Dem 18th Lois Kolkhorst Rep Lois Kolkhorst Rep 19th Pete Flores Rep Roland Gutierrez Dem 20th Juan Hinojosa Dem Juan Hinojosa Dem 21st Judith Zaffirini Dem Judith Zaffirini Dem 22nd Brian Birdwell Rep Brian Birdwell Rep 24th Dawn Buckingham Rep Dawn Buckingham Rep 26th Jose Menendez Dem Jose Menendez Dem 27th Eddie Lucio Jr. Dem Eddie Lucio Jr. Dem 28th Charles Perry Rep Charles Perry Rep 29thJosé R. Rodríguez Dem Cesar Blanco Dem
+DistrictDemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResultVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%District 1 87,885 24.74%267,40475.26% - -355,289100.00%Republican holdDistrict 4 113,050 30.19%281,10567.35% 10,277 2.46%417,401100.00%Republican holdDistrict 6137,89584.05% - - 26,166 15.95%164,061100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 11 148,225 38.10%231,26859.45% 9,519 2.45%389,012100.00%Republican holdDistrict 12 177,610 37.71%293,39962.29% - -471,009100.00%Republican holdDistrict 13200,19580.47% 48,581 19.53% - -248,776100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 18 144,489 34.21%277,87265.79% - -422,289100.00%Republican holdDistrict 19158,72649.85%148,21346.55% 11,465 3.60%318,404100.00%Democratic gainDistrict 20154,31158.48% 109,563 41.52% - -263,874100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 21167,67260.14% 111,142 39.86% - -278,814100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 22 118,538 31.55%257,20868.45% - -375,746100.00%Republican holdDistrict 24 115,853 30.46%264,51769.54% - -380,370100.00%Republican holdDistrict 26199,829 79.99% - -50,00420.01%249,833100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 27134,035 64.81% 72,768 35.19% - -206,803100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 28 - -248,025100.00% - -248,025100.00%Republican holdDistrict 29176,36067.32% 85,619 32.68% - -261,979100.00%Democratic holdTotal 2,234,67344.24% 2,696,68453.38% 107,4312.13% 5,051,685 100.00% Source:
Detailed results by State Senate District District 1 • District 4 • District 6 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 24 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 29__NOTOC__
District 1 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 4 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 6 Democratic primary
General election
District 11 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 12 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 13 Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
District 18 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 19 Incumbent Republican Pete Flores, who was elected in an upset in a 2018 special election, ran for re-election. He was defeated by Democratic state representative Roland Gutierrez.
Republican primary
Democratic primary
Democratic primary runoff
General election
District 20 Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
District 21 Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
District 22 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 24 Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
District 26 Democratic primary
General election
District 27 Democratic primary
Democratic primary runoff
Republican primary
General election
District 28 Republican primary
General election
District 29 Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Special elections District 14 The seat for District 14 became vacant on April 30, 2020, after the resignation of Kirk Watson. A special election was originally called for July 14, 2020. However, Eddie Rodriguez chose not to contest the resulting runoff, thus the scheduled runoff was canceled and Sarah Eckhardt was deemed elected.
District 30 A special election for Texas State Senate District 30 has been called for September 29, 2020. The candidate filing deadline was August 28, 2020. The seat became vacant after the resignation of Pat Fallon on August 23, 2020.
Runoff
See also 2020 Texas elections
References
External links Elections Division at the Texas Secretary of State official website Texas Election Results
(State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)