Senate

	2010 Legislative Election Results
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

Texas State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Texas State Senate. For results in individual contests see our Texas State Senate elections, 2010 page. The following is a breakdown of the state senate before and after the election:

Texas State Senate
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	12	12
	Republican Party	19	19
Total		31	31

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

There were 15 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. No incumbents lost, and thus 15 incumbents were re-elected to the Texas State Senate.

There will be 1 new senator sworn-in, a Democratic candidate, Jose R. Rodriguez.

Of the 16 seats up for election, 5 were won by Democrats and 11 by Republicans.

8 candidates were unopposed, 0 Democrats and 8 Republicans.

Only 4 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 1,167 state senate seats up for election in 2010, incumbents ran for 894 (76.6%) of them. Of these 894, 94 lost their re-election bids, 89 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In Texas, 1 incumbent senator did not run for re-election on the November 2 ballot, while 15 incumbents (93.8%) ran for re-election. All 15 won re-election.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

John Whitmire, first elected to the Texas State Senate in 1982.

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

No incumbents were defeated.

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

No challengers defeated an incumbent.

New State Senators and General Election Winners

388 new senators were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 388, 278 were Republicans and 110 were Democrats. In Texas, 1 new senator will be sworn-in, Democratic candidate Jose R. Rodriguez. In total, Texas elected 16 senators, 11 Republicans and 5 Democrats.

Newly elected senators

The following is the newly-elected member of the Texas State Senate:

Democratic

Jose R. Rodriguez (Texas)

Republican

No Republican challengers won election.

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Jose R. Rodriguez (Texas)

Republican

No Republican challengers won an open seat.

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Texas State Senate:

Democratic

Dan Patrick was first elected to the senate in 2006. He was re-elected in 2010.

Republican

Competitiveness

Jane Nelson was one of eight unopposed Republican senate candidates in 2010. She was first elected in 1992.

Across the nation, 1,167 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. 1,143 of those seats were partisan seats (24 seats were up for election in Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral legislature). In 320 (28.0%) of these state senate contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Texas, 12 candidates (24.0% of seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 12, 1 was a Democrat and 11 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

All Democratic candidates faced a Republican opponent.

Republican

Ballot Access

Across the nation, 140 independent or third party candidates ran for state senate. In Texas, 8 (25%) of the 32 senate candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate. None won election in the November 2 general election.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

House

Texas State House Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Texas House of Representatives. For results in individual contests, see our Texas House of Representatives elections, 2010. The following is a breakdown of the state house before and after the election:

Texas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	73	51
	Republican Party	76	98
	Vacancy	1	1
Total		150	150

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State House Overview:

There were 137 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 20 incumbents lost, and thus 116 incumbents were re-elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

No Republican incumbents lost in the general election, while 20 incumbent Democratic incumbent lost.

There will be 34 new representatives sworn-in. Of those 35, 4 are Democrats and 30 are Republicans

Of the 150 seats up for election, 51 were won by Democrats and 99 by Republicans.

91 candidates were unopposed, 37 Democrats and 54 Republicans.

Only 5 candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 4,958 state house seats up for election, incumbents ran in the general election for 4,091 (79.5%) of them. Of these 4,091 incumbents, 413 lost their re-election bids, 403 Democrats and 10 Republicans. In Texas, 137 (91.3%) incumbents ran for re-election. Of these 137, 20 incumbent representatives were defeated. All 20 incumbents were Democrats.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Dan Branch was first elected to the house in 2002. He was re-elected in 2010.

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Stephen Frost
Mark Homer
Jim McReynolds
Solomon Ortiz, Jr.
Abel Herrero
Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles
Patrick Rose
Diana Maldonado
Jim Dunnam
Joseph Moody
Joe Heflin
Paula Pierson
Chris Turner (Texas)
Robert Miklos
Carol Kent (Texas)
Kirk England
Allen Vaught
David McQuade Leibowitz
Kristi Thibaut
Ellen Cohen

Challengers who beat an incumbent

Erwin Cain was first elected to the house in 2010. He defeated incumbent Mark Homer (D). in the general election.

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

Raul Torres was first elected to the house in 2010. He defeated incumbent Solomon Ortiz, Jr. (D) in the general election.

Candidate	Party	District
George Lavender
Erwin Cain
James White (Texas representative)
Raul Torres
Connie Scott
Jose Aliseda
Paul Workman
Larry Gonzales
Marva Beck
Donald Margo
Charles Perry
Jim Landtroop
Barbara Nash
Bill Zedler
Stefani Carter
Rodney Anderson (Texas)
John Garza
Jim Murphy (Texas)
Sarah Davis (Texas)
Cindy Burkett
Jason Isaac
Kenneth Sheets

New Representatives and General Election Winners

1,345 new representatives were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 1,345, 988 were Republicans and 357 were Democrats. In Texas, 34 new representatives will be sworn-in. Of those 34, 4 are Democrats and 30 are Republicans. In the 12 open seat contests, Republicans won 4 and Democrats 8. In total, Texas elected 150 representatives, 99 Republicans and 51 Democrats.

George Lavender was first elected to the house in 2010. He defeated incumbent Stephen Frost (D).

Newly elected representatives

The following are the newly-elected members of the Texas House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Texas House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Tom Craddick was first elected to the house in 1968. He won re-election in 2010.

Competitiveness

Across the nation, 4,958 state house seats were up for election in 2010. In 1,680 (33.9%) of these state house contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Texas, 91 candidates (60.7% of all seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 91, 37 were Democrats and 54 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Aaron Pena was first elected to the house in 2002. He wonre-election in 2010, unopposed in the general election.

Republican

Ballot Access

In Texas, 67 (24.5%) of the 273 house candidates ran as independent or third party candidates.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

National Partisan Trends

The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in Texas.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:

The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.

Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	89	403	492
Republican	5	10	15
TOTALS	94	413	507

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	110	357	467
Republican	278	988	1,266
TOTALS	388	1,345	1,733

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	108	341	449
Republican	191	538	729
TOTALS	299	879	1,178

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown before the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	23	18	1	1
State houses	29	15	1	-
Totals:	52	33	2	1

As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown after the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	16	25	1	1
State houses	16	28	1	0
Totals:	32	53	2	1

Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:

State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats on November 2
State	Chamber	Number of seats gained by Democrats
California	Assembly	+ 2
Delaware	House	+ 2
Hawaii	Senate	+ 1
Maryland	Senate	+ 2
Massachusetts	Senate	+ 1
Missouri	Senate	+ 1
West Virginia	Senate	+ 1

In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.

Impact on State Politics

Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:

Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election
Party	Before election	U.S. House seats	After election	U.S. House seats	Gain/loss states	Gain/loss congressional seats
Democratic	16	131	11	115	-5	-16
Republican	8	66	20	198	+12	+132

Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.

Texas

Texas 2010 legislative election results

Senate

Texas State Senate Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State Senate Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

House

Texas State House Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State House Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New Representatives and General Election Winners

Newly elected representatives

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

National Partisan Trends

National Partisan Trends

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Total new legislators elected

Winners of Open Seats

Impact on legislative majorities

Impact on State Politics

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