The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments. ATPE members: Share your thoughts and ask our lobby team questions in The Rotunda on the ATPE Online Community. 

• Election results are in 
• Get ready for the runoffs
• TEA provides guidance on math academies
• 2026 ATPE Summit registration and housing are now open 
• Use your teacher voice with ATPE’s advocacy tools 

ELECTION: The March 3 primary election saw a significant shakeup across the board due to the number of open seats and a few surprise upsets. Open seats include that for Texas attorney general, five seats in the Texas Senate, a little more than 10% of Texas House seats, and eight of 15 seats on the State Board of Education (SBOE). 

Perhaps the most closely watched race, however, was that for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn (R). He and current Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) will face each other in the May runoff election. Current House member James Talarico (D) defeated current U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary. 

A few races of note at the state level:  

• Governor: Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D–Austin) secured their respective parties’ nomination for the gubernatorial race. 
• Lt. Governor: Incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick won the primary outright with 85% of the vote. Soon-to-be former Texas House Democrat Vikki Goodwin (D–Austin) and Houston labor leader Marcos Velez will face each other in the May runoff. 
• Attorney General: Current Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton (R–Galveston) and current U.S. House member Chip Roy (R-TX) will face each other in the May runoff. On the Democratic side, current Texas Sen. Nathan Johnson (D–Dallas) will face off against either Joe Jaworski or Tony Box; results are too close to call at this time. 
• Texas House: Two Republican House members lost their seats Tuesday in surprise upsets. In HD 3, Rep. Cecil Bell (R–Magnolia) was defeated by Kristen Plaisance. In HD 85, Rep. Stan Kitzman (R–Bellville) was defeated by Dennis “Goose” Geesaman. In HD 101, incumbent Chris Turner (D) lost his seat to Junior Ezeonu. 
• Texas Senate: Current Texas House member Trent Ashby (R–Lufkin) faced Rhonda Ward. In the end, Ashby defeated Ward handily. He will face Democrat Bobby Tillman in November. 
• State Board of Education (SBOE): In District 2, incumbent LJ Francis (R–Corpus Christi) lost his seat to Victoria Hinojosa, who will face Democrat Thomas Garcia in November. 

ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave has a detailed breakdown of the election results in this blog post. Keep in mind that current vote tallies are still unofficial as some large counties such as Harris, Dallas, and Tarrant will take longer to fully report their ballot totals. We will update the post as additional information becomes available.   

RUNOFFS: The conclusion of round one of the Texas primaries this week saw a number of races headed to a May runoff. Among these is a higher than usual number of high-profile statewide races on both sides, including a runoff to determine the Republican nominee for attorney general and a Democratic runoff to determine the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor.  

Perhaps the biggest race not yet decided is the battle between sitting U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The race, which could see many tens if not more than $100 million of additional campaign spending over the next two months, has already drawn national headlines since Wednesday after President Donald Trump suggested that he may endorse one of the candidates and that if he does the other should drop out. 

One thing is certain: With big statewide races for both parties and Texas' rules that allow even individuals who didn’t vote in the original primary to vote in the runoff, everyone should plan to head to back to the polls in May.  

MATH ACADEMIES: Math Academies, which are required to be implemented under House Bill 2 from the 89th session, are currently in the process of being developed. The Texas Education Agency sent out a To the Administrator Addressed (TAA) this week with some guidance around the timeline for implementation of the Math Academies. Teachers will start completing the academies during the 2027-28 school year. Any classroom teachers who provide math instruction, as well as principals, assistant principals, mathematics instructional coaches, and mathematics interventionists serving grades K–3, are required to attend Texas Mathematics Academies no later than the 2030-31 school year. 

SUMMIT: Registration and housing for the 2026 ATPE Summit are now open, and we have a sneak peek of what’s in store at atpesummit.org. This year’s summit will take place July 14–16 at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio. Plus: ATPE is accepting nominations for 2026-27 state officer positions through March 15. Learn more about the nomination process. 

MEMBER ADVOCACY: Even when the Legislature’s not in session, we urge you to stay informed and engaged. Here are a few advocacy resources to check out: 

• ATPE Mobile App: Check out the brand-new ATPE mobile app to conveniently access member benefits and advocacy tools. Learn more in this blog post by ATPE Governmental Relations Director Monty Exter. 
• Advocacy Central: Encourage candidates in your area to fill out the 2026 ATPE Candidate survey.  
• Judy: Chat with ATPE’s new AI assistant for Texas educators, ready to help you with all things ATPE and all things #txed.   
• ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP): Enroll in ATPE-MAP to earn state-level and local-level advocacy microcredentials, as well as earn continuing professional education (CPE) credit. ATPE-MAP is included in your member benefits, so be sure to check it out today.    
• ATPE Professional Learning (PL) Portal: Three sessions from the 2025 ATPE Summit are available in the ATPE PL Portal: an HB 2 compensation overview, the ATPE lobby team’s advocacy update and the closing keynote by Jonathan Alsheimer. Log in to watch the recordings and earn 1.5 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credit. (Jonathan Alsheimer’s appearance arranged through Gotham Artists.) 
• The Rotunda: Don’t forget, members, that you can interact with your ATPE lobby team throughout the week when you log in to the ATPE Online Community.