Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Texas

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Texas performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Texas Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Texas had Democratic governors in office for the first three years while there were Republican governors in office for the last 19 years. Texas is one of eight states that were run by a Republican governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. Texas was under Republican trifectas for the last 11 years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Texas Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Texas State Senate for five years while the Republicans were the majority for 17 years. Texas was under Republican trifectas for the final 11 years of the study.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Texas House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Texas State House of Representatives for the first 11 years while the Republicans were the majority for the last 11 years. Texas was under Republican trifectas for the final 11 years of the study.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Texas, the Texas State Senate and the Texas House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in Texas during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Texas slightly less than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Texas’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 26.62, which puts it at 27 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Texas had the highest ranking were 2007 and 2012, in which it ranked 11th.
• The year that Texas had the lowest ranking was 1994, in which it ranked 40th.
• The index type that Texas had the highest ranking in was Chief Exec Best and Worst, CNBC Top States for Business, and State Government Spending/GDP, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Texas had the lowest ranking in was Voter Turnout, in which it ranked 49th.

Texas SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	36	25	13
America's Health Rankings	35	35	36	36	38	38	34	34	37	36	34	34	36	39	34	35	40	39	40	42	40
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	7	8	8	9	8	7	5	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2	1	2	1	2	1
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2	4	9	8	7	6	7
Govt. Employment Share Population	23	23	24	24	24	22	22	21	19	19	19	19	19	18	17	17	17	17	18	17	15
Graduation Rate	46	43	49	48	46	46	43	42	40	38	38	39	34	30	29	27	35	35	36	35	28
Personal Income Per Capita	33	32	34	32	31	29	29	28	27	29	30	32	33	25	25	24	25	27	25	25	25
Poverty Rate	43	38	47	45	39	46	41	44	47	42	45	46	45	46	45	49	45	45	46	43	N/A
Real GDP per capita	18	18	20	19	19	13	12	13	15	15	14	16	14	18	18	17	19	18	18	18	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	21	20	18	17	20	21	24	12	12	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	1	3	3	2	1	1	2	1	3	1	1	3	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	N/A
State & local tax burden	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	6	4	6	4	5	6	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
Unemployment Rate	36	37	41	40	40	40	37	37	37	37	43	43	41	39	38	25	22	17	21	24	17
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	27	25	26	N/A
Voter Turnout	40	41	41	42	42	46	46	41	41	46	46	47	47	48	48	47	47	50	50	47	47
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	20	23	27	27	26

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

Texas was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period. Texas started out with Democratic trifectas but shifted to Republican trifectas by the end of the study.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Texas state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Prior to Republican trifectas, which started in 2003, the SQLI rating for Texas stayed consistently in the 30s, except for its lowest ranking of 40 in 1994 during a Democratic trifecta. Within a few years of the Republican trifectas that ranking moved up, and Texas finished 11th, its highest ranking, in 2012.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 36.67
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 18.00
• SQLI average with divided government: 33.63

Chart displaying the partisanship of Texas government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Texas
• Texas State Senate
• Texas House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs