The 1974 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators 15 of the 31 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 64th Texas Legislature for four-year terms.
Background Democrats had controlled the Texas Senate since the 1872 elections. Long a part of the Solid South, Republicans had gained a foothold in the state in the past two decades, electing U.S. Senator John Tower in 1961 and electing Richard Nixon with 66% of the vote in 1972, but these gains rarely made much impact in downballot, local races. Democrats had controlled every statewide office since the end of Reconstruction and controlled large supermajorities in the legislature. Even these small numbers were an improvement from the past decade, however, such as after the 1964 election when they held a single seat in the House and none in the Senate.
Corruption reforms In the fallout of the Sharpstown stock-fraud scandal, which had rocked Texas politics during the 62nd legislature in 1971, nearly a majority of the entire legislature was composed of newly-elected members after the 1972 election. Led by the "Dirty Thirty," who had kept the scandal at the forefront of the previous session, the new legislature passed a wave of reforms. These included the Texas Open Records Act, campaign finance disclosure requirements, regulations on deceptive trade practices, and new regulations on lobbyists.
The legislature in 1971 had also proposed the calling of a new constitutional convention, which voters approved in 1972. The convention met in the Spring of 1974, but by the time the convention concluded, the vote to pass the new constitution failed to reach the required two-thirds supermajority of the unicameral body by three votes.
Results Alongside Democrat Dolph Briscoe's landslide victory in the concurrent gubernatorial election, Democrats held onto all of their seats in the Senate, maintaining their 28–3 supermajority in the chamber.Kingston 1977, p. 538
Results by district +DistrictDemocraticRepublicanWrite-inTotalResultVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%District 146,001100.00% - -00.00%46,001100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 240,69272.47%15,45327.52%20.00%55,625100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 342,79399.99% - -60.01%42,799100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 610,652100.00% - -00.00%10,652100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 1032,81479.78%8,31920.22%00.00%41,133100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 1113,849100.00% - -00.00%13,849100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 1224,86149.49%25,37150.51%00.00%50,232100.00%Republican holdDistrict 1454,54463.51%31,34036.49%20.00%85,886100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2144,96174.70%15,22625.30%10.00%60,188100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2310,07670.86% - -00.00%10,076100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2550,04099.99% - -50.01%50,045100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2633,64667.43%16,24932.57%00.00%49,895100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2726,451100.00% - -00.00%26,451100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 2833,08867.30%16,07632.70%00.00%49,164100.00%Democratic holdDistrict 3051,14478.85%13,71721.15%10.00%64,862100.00%Democratic holdTotal515,61278.43%141,75121.56%170.00%657,380100.00% Source:Kingston 1975, pp. 548Election Returns: November 5, 1974, Texas Secretary of State election registers. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
References
Further reading Kingston, Mike (1975). Texas Almanac, 1976-1977. Dallas, Texas: The Dallas Morning News.