The 2022 Texas Senate elections were held on November 8, 2022.
Under the provisions of the Constitution of Texas, all 31 senate districts across the state of Texas were up for re-election, as the election was the first after the decennial United States Census. Numerous other federal, state, and local elections were also held on this date. The winners of this election served in the 88th Texas Legislature, with seats apportioned among the 2020 United States census. Republicans had held a majority in the Texas Senate since January 14, 1997, as a result of the 1996 elections.
Retirements As of April 2022, six state senators, including four Republicans and two Democrats, decided to retire, one of whom sought another office.
Republicans District 11: Larry Taylor retired. District 12: Jane Nelson retired. District 24: Dawn Buckingham retired to run for Texas Land Commissioner. District 31: Kel Seliger retired.
Democrats District 10: Beverly Powell retired. District 27: Eddie Lucio Jr. retired.
Predictions Redistricting greatly reduced the number of competitive seats in the state, making it almost certain that the chamber would remain in Republican hands.
Statewide SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal Ball May 19, 2022CNalysisNov. 7, 2022
Competitive districts DistrictIncumbent2020 Pres.CNalysisResult19thRoland Gutierrez55.81% D55.39% D27thEddie Lucio Jr. 51.75% D50.19% D
Results summary + Summary of the November 8, 2022 Texas Senate election results Party Candidates Votes Seats % Before Won After +/– Republican 27 2,948,643 54.06 18 19 19 1 Democratic 22 2,287,700 41.94 13 12 12 1 Libertarian 6 217,910 4.00 0 0 0 Total 5,454,253 100.00 31 31 31 Source:
Close races
District Winner Margin District 27 Democratic 0.38%
Detailed results
District 1 Incumbent Republican Bryan Hughes won re-election unopposed.
District 2 Incumbent Republican Bob Hall won re-election.
District 3 Incumbent Republican Robert Nichols won re-election.
District 4 Incumbent Republican Brandon Creighton won re-election.
District 5 Incumbent Republican Charles Schwertner won re-election.
District 6 Incumbent Democrat Carol Alvarado won re-election unopposed.
District 7 Incumbent Republican Paul Bettencourt won re-election unopposed.
District 8 Incumbent Republican Angela Paxton won re-election.
District 9 Incumbent Republican Kelly Hancock won re-election.
District 10 Incumbent Democrat Beverly Powell retired after her district was considerably changed during the 2021 redistricting to make it more Republican-leaning, calling the new district "unwinnable." State Representative Phil King ran for the newly-drawn seat, and because Powell withdrew after the primary, King entered the general election unopposed, guaranteeing Republicans would flip the seat.
District 11 Incumbent Republican Larry Taylor retired. State Representative Mayes Middleton ran to replace him unopposed in the general election.
District 12 Incumbent Republican Jane Nelson, who first won her seat in 1992, retired. State Representative Tan Parker ran to replace her.
District 13 Incumbent Democrat Borris Miles won re-election unopposed.
District 14 Incumbent Democrat Sarah Eckhardt won re-election.
District 15 Incumbent Democrat John Whitmire won re-election but had also announced his bid for mayor of Houston in the 2023 election.
District 16 Incumbent Democrat Nathan Johnson won re-election.
District 17 Incumbent Republican Joan Huffman won re-election.
District 18 Incumbent Republican Lois Kolkhorst won re-election.
District 19 Incumbent Democrat Roland Gutierrez won re-election.
District 20 Incumbent Democrat Juan Hinojosa won re-election.
District 21 Incumbent Democrat Judith Zaffirini won re-election.
District 22 Incumbent Republican Brian Birdwell won re-election.
District 23 Incumbent Democrat Royce West won re-election unopposed.
District 24 Incumbent Republican Dawn Buckingham retired to run for Texas Land Commissioner. Pete Flores, who had previously represented the 19th district in the Senate, ran to replace her.
District 25 Incumbent Republican Donna Campbell won re-election.
District 26 Incumbent Democrat Jose Menendez won re-election.
District 27
Incumbent Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr., often considered the most conservative Democrat in the Texas Senate, announced he would not run for re-election in November 2021. Lucio was the only Democrat to vote in favor of Texas's abortion laws and school voucher legislation, but all three Democrats running to replace him were pro-choice. He endorsed Morgan LaMantia despite her views on abortion, considering her to be the most moderate of the three, and she won the primary in a runoff. She faced Republican Adam Hinojosa in the general election, who campaigned as part of a Republican effort to capitalize on Donald Trump's strong performance in the Rio Grande Valley in the 2020 election to flip multiple legislative and congressional seats in the region.
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error MorganLaMantia (D) AdamHinojosa (R) UndecidedRagnar Research Partners (R)Ragnar Research Partners (R)August 23–25, 2022400 (LV)± 4.9%38%43%19%
Generic Democrat vs. generic Republican Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error GenericDemocrat GenericRepublican UndecidedRagnar Research Partners (R)August 23–25, 2022400 (LV)± 4.9%46%41%12%
LaMantia won the election by an extremely narrow margin, a result which was not confirmed until after a December recount.
District 28 Incumbent Republican Charles Perry won re-election unopposed.
District 29 Incumbent Democrat Cesar Blanco won re-election.
District 30 Incumbent Republican Drew Springer won re-election unopposed
District 31 Incumbent Republican Kel Seliger, who often bucked party leadership on hardline issues such as school vouchers, putting him at odds with lieutenant governor Dan Patrick, drew several primary challengers. Foremost among them was Kevin Sparks, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, U.S. senator Ted Cruz, as well as Dan Patrick. He quickly became the seat's frontrunner after Seliger announced he would not run for re-election. Sparks won the Republican primary outright, avoiding a runoff, and faced no Democratic opponent in the general election.
See also 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas 2022 Texas gubernatorial election 2022 Texas Attorney General election 2022 United States state legislative elections 2022 Texas House of Representatives election 2022 Texas elections
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