Texas state legislative special elections, 2026

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2026 State Legislative Special Elections
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As of February, one special election has been called to fill a vacant seat in the Texas State Legislature, and a general runoff election for a 2025 special election was held.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

• District 9: January 31 (runoff)
• District 4: May 2

How vacancies are filled in Texas

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

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

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

About the legislature

The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of Texas. The legislature meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. In Texas, the legislature is considered "the dominant branch of state government," according to the Texas State Historical Association. It is composed of the upper chamber, the Texas State Senate, and the lower chamber, the Texas House of Representatives.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2026. 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 5, 2024	After November 6, 2024
	Democratic Party	12	11
	Republican Party	19	20
Total		31	31

Texas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2024	After November 6, 2024
	Democratic Party	63	62
	Republican Party	86	88
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		150	150

Special elections

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

May 2, 2026

Texas State Senate District 4

See also: Texas state legislative special elections, 2026 A special election for Texas State Senate District 4 has been called for May 2, 2026. The candidate filing deadline is March 3, 2026. The seat became vacant on October 2, 2025, after Brandon Creighton (R) resigned to accept the position of Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. There are no official candidates yet for this election. General election The general election will occur on May 2, 2026.

Historical data

There were 1,102 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2025. Texas held 42 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Texas took place in 2019 when six special elections were held.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2026

As of February 2026, 56 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 22 states. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2026 special elections

In 2026, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

• 30 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
• 22 due to resignation
• 4 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

• 31 Democratic seats
• 25 Republican seats

As of February 3rd, 2026, Republicans controlled 55.1% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.83%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber			Other	Vacant
State senates	836	1,119	6	12
State houses	2,401	2,951	20	41
Total:	3,237	4,070	26	53

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2026. 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.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2026)
Party		As of Special Election	After Special Election
	Democratic Party	31	9
	Republican Party	25	3
	Independent	0	0
Total		56	12

Flipped seats

In 2026, as of February, no seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

See also

• State legislative special elections, 2026
• State legislative special elections, 2025
• State legislative special elections, 2024
• State legislative special elections, 2023
• Texas State Legislature

Footnotes

State legislatures

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2026

State legislative elections (2026) • State legislative special elections (2026) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2026 Session Dates

2025

State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

Historical elections

2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures

How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates

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State houses

Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions

President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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