2016 Texas Senate election explained

Election Name:2016 Texas Senate election
Country:Texas
Type:legislative
Previous Election:2014 Texas Senate election
Previous Year:2014
Next Election:2018 Texas Senate election
Next Year:2018
Seats For Election:16 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate
Majority Seats:16
Election Date:November 8, 2016
Image1:Paul Bettencourt.jpg
Leader1:Paul Bettencourt
Leaders Seat1:7th district
Party1:Republican Party of Texas
Last Election1:20 seats, 63.09%[1]
Seats1:20
Popular Vote1:1,985,241
Percentage1:56.31%
Swing1:6.78%
Leader2:José R. Rodríguez
Leaders Seat2:29th district
Party2:Texas Democratic Party
Last Election2:11 seats, 29.71%
Seats Needed2: 5
Seats2:11
Popular Vote2:1,355,412
Percentage2:38.45%
Swing2:8.74%
Ongoing:no

The 2016 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 85th Texas Legislature. State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate. A statewide map of Texas's state Senate districts can be obtained from the Texas Legislative Council here, and individual district maps can be obtained from the U.S. Census here.

Following the 2014 State Senate elections, the Republicans maintained effective control of the Senate with twenty members to the Democrats' eleven.

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain five Senate seats. While the statewide popular vote for this class of Senators swung 8.6 percentage points toward the Democrats when compared to the vote they earned in the 2012 elections, both parties retained the eight seats each was defending.

Summary of race results

Summary of the November 8, 2016 Texas Senate election results
PartyCandidatesVotesSeats
%BeforeUpWonAfter+/–
Republican101,985,24156.31208820
Democratic101,355,41238.45118811
Libertarian6172,2554.890000
Green112,5350.360000
Total3,525,443100.0031161631
Source:[2]
District! colspan="2"
DemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResult
scope=col data-sort-type="number" Votesscope=col data-sort-type="number" %scope=col data-sort-type="number" Votesscope=col data-sort-type="number" %scope=col data-sort-type="number" Votesscope=col data-sort-type="number" %scope=col data-sort-type="number" Votesscope=col data-sort-type="number" %
District 1--245,648100.00%--245,648100.00%Republican hold
District 4--239,86987.33%34,79112.67%274,660100.00%Republican hold
District 6119,891100.00%----119,891100.00%Democratic hold
District 11--218,201100.00%--218,201100.00%Republican hold
District 12--241,23282.98%49,46517.02%290,697100.00%Republican hold
District 13178,27792.50%--14,4477.50%192,724100.00%Democratic hold
District 18--229,05185.78%37,96514.22%267,016100.00%Republican hold
District 19134,99755.87%97,68240.43%8,9483.70%241,627100.00%Democratic hold
District 20132,12861.68%82,09838.32%--214,226100.00%Democratic hold
District 21160,959100.00%----160,959100.00%Democratic hold
District 2288,76929.57%211,38070.43%--300,149100.00%Republican hold
District 2481,83627.61%214,56872.39%--296,404100.00%Republican hold
District 26155,44179.87%--39,17420.13%194,615100.00%Democratic hold
District 27135,945100.00%----135,945100.00%Democratic hold
District 28--205,512100.00%--205,512100.00%Republican hold
District 29167,169100.00%----167,169100.00%Democratic hold
Total 1,355,41238.45% 1,985,24156.31% 184,7905.24% 3,525,443100.00% Source:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Race Summary Report - 2014 General Election . Texas Secretary of State . https://web.archive.org/web/20210428174916/https://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist175_state.htm . 2021-04-28 . live . 2021-05-29.
  2. Web site: Race Summary Report - 2016 General Election . Texas Secretary of State . https://web.archive.org/web/20210514122526/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist319_state.htm . 2021-05-14 . live . 2021-05-29 .