Texas State Senate District 17
Texas State Senate District 17 is represented by Joan Huffman (R).
As of the 2020 Census, Texas state senators represented an average of 941,396 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 815,110 residents.
About the office
Members of the Texas State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Texas legislators assume office at the beginning of the legislative session, which starts at noon on the second Tuesday in January in the year after the election.[1][2]
One-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years in even-numbered years, with the exception that all 31 Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts. After the initial election, the Senate is divided by lot into two classes, with one class having a re-election after two years and the other having a re-election after four years.[3]
Qualifications
To be eligible to serve in the Texas State Senate, a candidate must be:[4]
- A U.S. citizen
- A qualified elector
- 26 years old before the general election
- A five-year resident of Texas before the general election
- A district resident for one year prior to the general election
Salaries
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[5] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $7,200/year | $221/day |
Vacancies
If there is a vacancy in the Texas State Legislature, the governor must call a special election to fill the vacant seat.[6] A governor's proclamation to hold a special election must be delivered to county judges in the legislative district no later than 36 days before the scheduled election.[7]
The secretary of state can declare a candidate duly elected in a special election if there is no opposition.[8]
See sources: Texas Elec. Code § 203.001 et. seq.
District map
Redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Texas
In Texas, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Texas State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.[9]
If the state legislature is unable to approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw the lines (the backup commission is not involved in congressional redistricting). This backup commission, established in 1948, comprises the following members:[9]
- Lieutenant governor
- Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
- Attorney general
- State comptroller
- Commissioner of the General Land Office
The Texas Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and "that they preserve whole counties when population mandates permit."[9]
2020-2023
Texas renewed its state legislative district boundaries in June 2023 for use in 2024 and until the 2030 census. These districts were the same as those enacted by the state in October 2021. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed HB 1000 — establishing state House district boundaries — on June 12, 2023, and he allowed SB 375 — establishing state Senate district boundaries — to become law without his signature on June 18, 2023.[10][11]
The Texas Tribune's James Barragan wrote in January 2023 that Senate Legislative Redistricting Committee Chairwoman Joan Huffman (R) said the state was re-doing the redistricting process "to ensure that Legislature had met its constitutional requirement to apportion districts in the first regular session after the publishing of the results of the federal census, which is done every 10 years. Because of the pandemic, census numbers were not released until after the end of the last regularly scheduled legislative session on May 31, 2021. Redistricted maps were passed in a subsequent special session that year."[12] Texas had originally enacted new state legislative districts on October 25, 2021.
Below are the maps in effect before and after the 2020 redistricting cycle. The map on the right was in effect for Texas' 2024 state legislative elections.
Texas State Senate District 17
until January 9, 2023
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Texas State Senate District 17
starting January 10, 2023
Click a district to compare boundaries.
Elections
2024
See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Kathy Cheng in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joan Huffman (R) | 64.2 | 238,328 |
 | Kathy Cheng (D) | 35.8 | 133,127 | |
| Total votes: 371,455 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Kathy Cheng advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kathy Cheng | 100.0 | 21,812 |
| Total votes: 21,812 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman | 100.0 | 70,144 |
| Total votes: 70,144 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2022
- See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Titus Benton in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman (R) | 65.3 | 179,653 |
 | Titus Benton (D) | 34.7 | 95,320 | |
| Total votes: 274,973 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Titus Benton defeated Miguel Gonzalez in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Titus Benton | 51.2 | 11,958 |
| Miguel Gonzalez | 48.8 | 11,393 | ||
| Total votes: 23,351 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman | 100.0 | 58,841 |
| Total votes: 58,841 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
- See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Rita Lucido and Lauren LaCount in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman (R) | 51.4 | 158,263 |
 | Rita Lucido (D) | 46.8 | 143,978 | |
 | Lauren LaCount (L) | 1.8 | 5,396 | |
| Total votes: 307,637 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Senate District 17
Rita Lucido defeated Fran Watson in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Senate District 17 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rita Lucido | 57.8 | 10,476 |
 | Fran Watson | 42.2 | 7,659 | |
| Total votes: 18,135 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Rita Lucido and Fran Watson advanced to a runoff. They defeated Ahmad Hassan in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rita Lucido | 48.9 | 17,603 |
| ✔ | | Fran Watson | 35.1 | 12,621 |
 | Ahmad Hassan | 16.0 | 5,739 | |
| Total votes: 35,963 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17
Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Kristin Tassin in the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Huffman | 72.6 | 36,668 |
 | Kristin Tassin | 27.4 | 13,808 | |
| Total votes: 50,476 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
- See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for 15 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Rita Lucido was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Derek Anthony in the Republican primary. George Hardy was running as a Libertarian candidate, and David Courtney was running as a Green Party candidate. Phil Kurtz filed but did not advance past the Libertarian convention. Huffman defeated Lucido, Hardy and Courtney in the 2014 general election.[13][14][15][16]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Joan Huffman Incumbent |
63.3% | 113,817 | |
| Democratic | Rita Lucido | 33.9% | 60,934 | |
| Libertarian | George Hardy | 2% | 3,642 | |
| Green | David Courtney | 0.7% | 1,303 | |
| Total Votes | 179,696 | |||
2012
- See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2012
Elections for the office of Texas State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 29, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Joan Huffman (R) defeated Austin Page (L) and David Courtney (G) in the general election. Huffman was unopposed in the Republican primary election.[17] In 2012, a total of $218,990 was raised in campaign contributions. Huffman raised $209,716, Page raised $5,700, and Courtney raised $3,574.[18]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Joan Huffman Incumbent |
77.7% | 185,429 | |
| Libertarian | Austin Page | 13.4% | 32,026 | |
| Green | David Courtney | 8.9% | 21,252 | |
| Total Votes | 238,707 | |||
Campaign contributions
From 2002 to 2024, candidates for Texas State Senate District 17 raised a total of $11,467,437. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $441,055 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money
| Campaign contributions, Texas State Senate District 17 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Amount | Candidates | Average |
| 2024 | $1,441,004 | 2 | $720,502 |
| 2022 | $1,718,542 | 3 | $572,847 |
| 2018 | $3,704,807 | 6 | $617,468 |
| 2014 | $947,884 | 5 | $189,577 |
| 2012 | $218,990 | 3 | $72,997 |
| 2010 | $538,164 | 1 | $538,164 |
| 2008 | $14,678 | 1 | $14,678 |
| 2006 | $829,398 | 1 | $829,398 |
| 2004 | $483,794 | 1 | $483,794 |
| 2002 | $1,570,176 | 3 | $523,392 |
| Total | $11,467,437 | 26 | $441,055 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Government Code, "Title 3., Subtitle A., Sec. 301.001," accessed February 17, 2021
- ↑ Texas Constitution, "Article 3. Legislative Department, Section 4," accessed November 4, 2021
- ↑ Texas State Legislature, "Texas Constitution," accessed December 18, 2013(Referenced Article 3, Section 3)
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Qualifications for All Public Offices," accessed May 23, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3))
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3)(b)-(c))
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 2.055)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 All About Redistricting, "Texas," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Texas Legislature Online, "Bill: HB 1000," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ Texas Legislature Online, "Bill: SB 375," accessed June 21, 2023
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas Senate votes to take up redistricting again," January 11, 2023
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ Green Party of Texas, "Greens Release Candidate List," accessed July 26, 2014
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of Texas, "2014 Texas Senate Candidates List," accessed July 26, 2014
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Election Brackets," accessed May 5, 2014
- ↑ Office of the Secretary of State, "State of Texas 2012 General Election," November 6, 2012
- ↑ followthemoney.org, "State of Texas 2012 Senate Candidates," accessed November 27, 2013
