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Texas state legislative special elections, 2019

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In 2019, six special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Texas State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Texas

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Texas State Legislature, the governor must call a special election to fill the vacant seat.[1] 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.[2]

The secretary of state can declare a candidate duly elected in a special election if there is no opposition.[3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Texas Elec. Code § 203.001 et. seq.


About the legislature

The Texas State Senate is the upper chamber of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members. Each member represented an average of 811,147 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[4] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 672,640.[5]

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Texas State Legislature. There are 150 members. Each member represented an average of 167,637 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[6] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 139,012.[7] The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Texas State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 10 12
     Republican Party 21 19
Total 31 31
Texas House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 55 67
     Republican Party 93 83
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 150 150

Special elections

Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

January 29, 2019

February 12, 2019

November 5, 2019

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The following state legislative candidates responded to Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click candidate names to read their answers.

Texas House of Representatives District 28

Texas House of Representatives District 148

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2019 special elections

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I

State profile

See also: Texas and Texas elections, 2019
USA Texas location map.svg

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

  • Texas voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

Texas Party Control: 1992-2025
Three years of Democratic trifectas  •  Twenty-three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
Senate D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

Texas quick stats
  • Became a state in 1845
  • 28th state admitted to the United States
  • Texas was an independent republic from 1836 to 1845
  • Members of the Texas State Senate: 31
  • Members of the Texas House of Representatives: 150
  • U.S. senators: 2
  • U.S. representatives: 36
More Texas coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for Texas
 TexasU.S.
Total population:27,429,639316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):261,2323,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:74.9%73.6%
Black/African American:11.9%12.6%
Asian:4.2%5.1%
Native American:0.5%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.1%0.2%
Two or more:2.5%3%
Hispanic/Latino:38.4%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:81.9%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.6%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$53,207$53,889
Persons below poverty level:19.9%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3))
  2. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3)(b)-(c))
  3. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 2.055)
  4. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  5. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  6. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  7. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  8. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Special Election For Texas House District 79," December 21, 2018
  9. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2019 Special Election House District 79 Election Night Returns," accessed January 29, 2019
  10. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "State Rep. Joe Pickett to resign from Texas House after nearly 24 years in office," December 15, 2018
  11. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Special Election For Texas House District 145," December 21, 2018
  12. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2019 Special Election House District 145 Election Night Returns," accessed January 29, 2019
  13. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Morales, Noriega head to runoff in House District 145 special election," January 29, 2019
  14. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Special election runoff to replace Carol Alvarado in Texas House to be held March 5," February 12, 2019
  15. ↑ San Antonio Current, "Gov. Abbott Sets Special Election to Replace San Antonio State Rep. Justin Rodriguez," January 7, 2019
  16. ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Special Runoff Election House District No. 125 Proclamation," accessed February 28, 2019
  17. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  18. ↑ Texas Governor Greg Abbott', "Proclamation by the Governor of the State of Texas," August 13, 2019
  19. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "State Rep. John Zerwas to join UT System as executive vice chancellor," August 1, 2019
  20. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  21. ↑ Governor Greg Abbott, "HD 100 special election," accessed June 5, 2019
  22. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  23. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Gov. Abbott sets special election for Houston seat in Texas House," August 19, 2019
  24. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Houston Democrat Jessica Farrar to retire from Legislature," August 16, 2019
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