2020 Texas Senate election should not be confused with 2020 United States Senate election in Texas.
| Election Name: | 2020 Texas Senate election |
| Country: | Texas |
| Type: | legislative |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Texas Senate election |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2022 Texas Senate election |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
| Seats For Election: | 16 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 16 |
| Election Date: | November 3, 2020 |
| Image1: | Paul Bettencourt.jpg |
| Leader1: | Paul Bettencourt |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Texas |
| Leaders Seat1: | 7th district |
| Last Election1: | 19 seats, 50.66% |
| Seats Before1: | 19 |
| Seats1: | 18 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,660,120 |
| Percentage1: | 53.28% |
| Leader2: | José R. Rodríguez |
| Party2: | Texas Democratic Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | 29th district |
| Last Election2: | 12 seats, 47.82% |
| Seats Before2: | 12 |
| Seats Needed2: | 4 |
| Seats2: | 13 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,226,640 |
| Percentage2: | 44.59% |
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.[1] and individual district maps can be obtained from the U.S. Census.[2]
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.[3] 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.[4]
One incumbent did not run for re-election in 2020:
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.
| Source | Ranking | As of | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[5] | October 21, 2020 | ||
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[6] | May 7, 2020 |
| 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 | ||||||||||||||
| State Senate District[7] | Incumbent | Party | Elected 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 | |||
| 29th | José R. Rodríguez | Dem | Cesar Blanco | Dem | |||
| Democratic | Republican | Others | Total | Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Votes | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | % | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Votes | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | % | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Votes | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | % | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | Votes | scope=col data-sort-type="number" | % |
| District 1 | 87,885 | 24.74% | 267,404 | 75.26% | - | - | 355,289 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 4 | 113,050 | 30.19% | 281,105 | 67.35% | 10,277 | 2.46% | 417,401 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 6 | 137,895 | 84.05% | - | - | 26,166 | 15.95% | 164,061 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 11 | 148,225 | 38.10% | 231,268 | 59.45% | 9,519 | 2.45% | 389,012 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 12 | 177,610 | 37.71% | 293,399 | 62.29% | - | - | 471,009 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 13 | 200,195 | 80.47% | 48,581 | 19.53% | - | - | 248,776 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 18 | 144,489 | 34.21% | 277,872 | 65.79% | - | - | 422,289 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 19 | 158,726 | 49.85% | 148,213 | 46.55% | 11,465 | 3.60% | 318,404 | 100.00% | Democratic gain | ||||||
| District 20 | 154,311 | 58.48% | 109,563 | 41.52% | - | - | 263,874 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 21 | 167,672 | 60.14% | 111,142 | 39.86% | - | - | 278,814 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 22 | 118,538 | 31.55% | 257,208 | 68.45% | - | - | 375,746 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 24 | 115,853 | 30.46% | 264,517 | 69.54% | - | - | 380,370 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 26 | 199,829 | 79.99% | - | - | 50,004 | 20.01% | 249,833 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 27 | 134,035 | 64.81% | 72,768 | 35.19% | - | - | 206,803 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| District 28 | - | - | 248,025 | 100.00% | - | - | 248,025 | 100.00% | Republican hold | ||||||
| District 29 | 176,360 | 67.32% | 85,619 | 32.68% | - | - | 261,979 | 100.00% | Democratic hold | ||||||
| Total | 2,234,673 | 44.24% | 2,696,684 | 53.38% | 107,431 | 2.13% | 5,051,685 | 100.00% | Source:[8] | ||||||
| align=center | 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 |
| Election Name: | 2020 Texas's 19th senate district election |
| Country: | Texas |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Texas Senate election#District 19 (special) |
| Previous Year: | 2018 (special) |
| Next Election: | 2022 Texas Senate election#District 19 |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
| Seats For Election: | Texas's 19th senate district |
| Image1: | File:Roland_Gutierrez_(cropped).jpg |
| Nominee1: | Roland Gutierrez |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 158,726 |
| Percentage1: | 49.85% |
| Nominee2: | Pete Flores |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote2: | 148,213 |
| Percentage2: | 46.55% |
| Texas Senator | |
| Before Election: | Pete Flores |
| Before Party: | Republican Party |
| After Election: | Roland Gutierrez |
| After Party: | Democratic Party |
| Election Date: | November 3, 2020 |
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.[9]
The seat for District 14 became vacant on April 30, 2020, after the resignation of Kirk Watson.[10] 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.
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.