October 30, 2026
Historic night in Texas as Dems sweep statewide offices, take the Texas House
Posted on: 11/4/2026
Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa (D) speaks at the 2026 ATPE Summit in San Antonio July 16. Both she and her opponent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) were invited to the summit, but only Hinojosa accepted ATPE's invitation.
Results of undecided races will be updated as calls are made. Last updated: 3:01 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026.
The 2026 general election has come to an end, and while the dust settles and pundits begin to pontificate on the reasons for the outcomes, ATPE is here to break down the results and what they mean for Texas public education.
Please note: Profiles linked below are of the candidates who won their respective races unless otherwise noted.
Takeaways:
- Texas will have its first Latina governor as Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D–Austin) is now the governor-elect. Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to become the first Democratic governor since the defeat of the late Ann Richards in 1994. Hinojosa has promised to appoint an educator as TEA commissioner “on day one.”
- Texas also elected its first Democratic U.S. senator since 1988 in Rep. James Talarico (D–Austin). Talarico defeated Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in the most expensive U.S. Senate race on record.
- Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D–Austin) also defeated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) and will become the first Democratic lieutenant governor in 27 years. Goodwin will lead a majority Republican chamber and will no doubt have her powers limited by that Republican majority.
- Democrats also swept the remaining statewide seats, including attorney general, railroad commissioner, comptroller, land commissioner, agriculture commissioner, and the four contested seats on the Texas Supreme Court.
- Democrats also took back control of the Texas House. It is not currently clear what the final numbers will be, but if current numbers hold, it would be 84 Democrats to 66 Republicans. Dems are already tossing their hats in the ring for speaker. So far, the Dean of the Texas House Senfronia Thompson (D–Houston) is the only Democrat to make it official and announce her candidacy, but other names such as Rep. Joe Moody (D–El Paso) are also being discussed.
U.S. Senate – flip
Ken Paxton (R)
Governor – flip
Greg Abbott (R)
Lieutenant Governor – flip
Dan Patrick (R)
Vikki Goodwin (D)
Attorney General – flip
Mayes Middleton (R)
Nathan Johnson (D)
Comptroller – flip
Don Huffines (R)
Sarah Eckhardt (D)
Railroad Commissioner – flip
Bo French (R)
Jon Rosenthal (D)
Land Commissioner – flip
Dawn Buckingham (R)
Benjamin Flores (D)
Agriculture Commissioner – flip
Nate Sheets (R)
Clayton Tucker (D)
Texas House
House District (HD) 1
Chris Spencer (R)
Sean Huffman (D)
This seat is vacant following the retirement of longtime Rep. Gary VanDeaver.
House District (HD) 3
Nicole King (D)
Incumbent Republican Cecil Bell lost his seat in the primary in March.
House District (HD) 9
Rocky Thigpen (R)
Shelley Tatum (D)
This seat is vacant because the current rep, Trent Ashby, is running for the Texas Senate.
House District (HD) 14 – too close to call
Paul Dyson (R)
Janet Dudding (D)
Results are still coming in, but with an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Dudding is leading the incumbent, Dyson, by 315 votes.
House District (HD) 15
Brad Bailey (R)
Moniqua Scott (D)
This seat is vacant because the current rep, Steve Toth, is running for the U.S. House.
House District (HD) 21
Ray Callas (R)
Jacky Hernandez (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of former Speaker Dade Phelan.
House District (HD) 25 – too close to call
Cody Vasut (R)
Mike Meadors (D)
Results are still coming in, but with an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Vasut is leading the challenger, Meadors, by 1,146 votes.
House District (HD) 26 – too close to call
Matt Morgan (R)
Eliz Markowitz (D)
This race is virtually tied currently. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Morgan is leading the challenger, Markowitz, by 135 votes.
House District (HD) 28 – flip
Gary Gates (R)
Sandy Ibanez (D)
House District (HD) 29 – too close to call
Jeff Barry (R)
Karen Reeder (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Barry is leading the challenger, Reeder, by 1,236 votes.
House District (HD) 34 – flip
Denise Villalobos (R)
Congratulations to ATPE member Stephanie Guerrero Saenz on her election to the Texas House!
House District (HD) 37 – flip
Janie Lopez (R)
House District (HD) 41
Gary Groves (R)
Julio Salinas (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Bobby Guerra.
House District (HD) 47
Jennifer Mushtaler (R)
Pooja Sethi (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Vikki Goodwin is running for lieutenant governor.
House District (HD) 49
Arshia Papari (Green Party)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Gina Hinojosa is running for governor. There is no Republican running in this race.
House District (HD) 50
Howard Olsen IV (R)
This seat is vacant because Rep. James Talarico is running for the U.S. Senate.
House District (HD) 52 – flip
Caroline Harris Davila (R)
Chris Jimenez (D)
House District (HD) 55 – too close to call
Hillary Hickland (R)
Amelia Rabroker (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Rabroker is leading the incumbent, Hickland, by 419 votes.
House District (HD) 61 – too close to call
Brittany Black (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Richardson is leading the challenger, Black, by 134 votes.
House District (HD) 63 – flip
Ben Bumgarner (R)
Denise Wooten (D)
House District (HD) 67 – too close to call
Jeff Leach (R)
Jordan Wheatley (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Leach is leading the challenger, Wheatley, by 203 votes.
House District (HD) 71
Jay Hardaway (R)
Diana Luna (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Stan Lambert.
House District (HD) 80 – flip
Don McLaughlin (R)
House District (HD) 85
Dennis Geesaman (R)
Lawrence Brandyburg (D)
This seat is vacant because incumbent Rep. Stan Kitzman lost his primary.
House District (HD) 86
Holly Jeffreys (R)
Cullin Knutson (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. John Smithee.
House District (HD) 89 – too close to call
Candy Noble (R)
Angie Carraway (D)
Challenger Carraway is currently leading incumbent Noble by around 2,000 votes.
House District (HD) 93 – too close to call
Alan Blaylock (R)
Ericka Lomick (D)
This seat is vacant due to former Rep. Nate Schatzline resigning. The race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Lomick is leading Blaylock by 810 votes.
Note: Lomick suspended her campaign in September due to a previous felony conviction on her record that made her ineligible to serve according to Texas law. Her name still appeared on the ballot because it was past the deadline to withdraw and nominate another candidate. Should Lomick win the seat, there will likely be a special election called to fill it.
House District (HD) 94 – flip
Cheryl Bean (R)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Tony Tinderholt.
House District (HD) 96 – flip
Ellen Fleischmann (R)
Ebony Turner (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. David Cook is running for the Texas Senate.
House District (HD) 97 – flip
John McQueeney (R)
House District (HD) 98
Armin Mizani (R)
Cate Brennan (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Giovanni Capriglione.
House District (HD) 101
Junior Ezeonu (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Chris Turner lost his primary to Ezeonu. Ezeonu did not have an opponent for the seat.
House District (HD) 112 – flip
Angie Chen Button (R)
Zach Herbert (D)
House District (HD) 118 – flip
Jorge Borrego (R)
This seat is vacant because Rep. John Lujan chose to run for U.S. House. He did not win his primary and is not on the ballot.
House District (HD) 121 – flip
Marc LaHood (R)
Zack Dunn (D)
House District (HD) 122 – too close to call
Mark Dorazio (R)
Shelly Nickels (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Richardson is leading the challenger, Nickels, by 1,772 votes.
House District (HD) 125
Ricardo Martinez (R)
Adrian Reyna (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Ray Lopez.
House District (HD) 126 – too close to call
Stan Stanart (R)
Stefanie Bord (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Sam Harless.
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 99% of the votes counted, Bord is leading Stanart by 265 votes.
House District (HD) 127 – flip
Charles Cunningham (R)
House District (HD) 128
Tom Butler (R)
Desiree Klaus (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Briscoe Cain chose to run for U.S. House. He lost his primary and is not on the ballot.
House District (HD) 129
Scott Bowen (R)
Albert Wittliff (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Dennis Paul is running for Texas Senate.
House District (HD) 131
Scott Whitmarsh (R)
Staci Childs (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Rep. Alma Allen.
House District (HD) 132 – flip
Mike Schofield (R)
Sara McGee (D)
House District (HD) 135
Liz Ramos (R)
Odus Evbagharu (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Jon Rosenthal is running for railroad commissioner.
House District (HD) 138 – flip
Lacey Hull (R)
Tyler Smith (D)
House District (HD) 149
Dave Bennett (R)
Darlene Breaux (D)
This seat is vacant because Rep. Hubert Vo lost his primary.
House District (HD) 150 – flip
Valoree Swanson (R)
A’Yonna Kellum (D)
Texas Senate
Senators serve staggered four-year terms. 16 Senate seats are up for reelection this year.
Senate District (SD) 2 – too close to call
Bob Hall (R)
Keenen Colbert (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 96.27% of the votes counted, Hall is leading the challenger, Colbert, by 9,539 votes.
Senate District (SD) 3
Trent Ashby (R)
Bobby Tillman (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of Sen. Robert Nichols.
Senate District (SD) 9
Leigh Wambsganss (R)
Taylor Rehmet (D)
Rehmet won a special election in January to fill the seat through the remainder of former Sen. Kelly Hancock’s term. This was widely considered to be the only competitive race in the Senate this election.
Senate District (SD) 11
Dennis Paul (R)
Shannon Dicely (D)
This seat is vacant because Sen. Mayes Middleton is running for attorney general.
Senate District (SD) 22 – general election
David Cook (R)
Amy Martinez-Salas (D)
This seat was vacated by Sen. Brian Birdwell in May when he was appointed to serve as assistant secretary of defense in the Trump administration.
State Board of Education
The SBOE is made up of 15 seats. Eight seats are up for reelection this year. There is also a special election on the ballot to fill the remainder of Staci Childs’ term. Childs resigned earlier this year to run for the Texas House. One important note is that the governor appoints the SBOE chair, which means current Chair Aaron Kinsey (R–Lubbock) is likely to lose his chair.
District 2 – flip
Victoria Hinojosa (R)
Victoria Hinojosa defeated the incumbent, LJ Francis, in the March primary.
District 4 – general election
Tammie Nielsen (R)
This seat was vacated by newly elected Rep. Staci Childs earlier this year when she won her primary for the Texas House. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appointed Republican Tammie Nielsen to the seat, making her the incumbent in this race.
District 5
Mica Arellano (R)
Allison Bush (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of SBOE member Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D).
District 6 – flip
Tiffany Nelson (R)
Michelle Palmer (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of SBOE member Will Hickman (R).
District 7 – too close to call
Julie Pickren (R)
Tiffany Perkinz (D)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 97.27% of the votes counted, Pickren is leading the challenger, Perkinz, by 19,184 votes.
District 8 – too close to call
Audrey Young (R)
This race is currently too close to call. With an estimated 96.06% of the votes counted, Van de Walker is leading the incumbent, Young, by 564 votes.
District 9
Kason Huddleston (R)
Ericka Ledferd (D)
This seat is vacant due to the retirement of SBOE member Keven Ellis (R).
District 14
Mindy Bumgarner (R)
Amy Taylor (D)
This seat is vacant because SBOE member Evelyn Brooks (R) chose to run for governor rather than seek another term.
Related blogs
October 30, 2026
October 27, 2026
