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All 31 seats in the Texas State Senate 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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 Government |
The 2012 Texas State Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in all 31 State Senate districts. State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate. A statewide map of Texas's state Senate districts can be obtained from the Texas Legislative Council here, and individual district maps can be obtained from the U.S. Census here.
Following the 2010 State Senate elections, the Republicans maintained effective control of the Senate with nineteen members to the Democrats' twelve.
To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain four seats. While the GOP's statewide margin of victory for this class of Senators fell 4.3 percentage points compared to that of the 2012 elections,[note 1] nearly all of the decrease was due to greater support for third-party candidates; the Democrats' vote share remained practically the same. In the end, the Republicans flipped one Democrat-held seat, winning twelve out of the fifteen races.
Background
The Republican Party had held the State Senate since the 1996 elections. Most observers, as well as the national parties, viewed Texas as a safe red state, as Republican candidates had swept statewide elections since 1998. State Republicans reached a new zenith after the 2010 elections, when backlash to the presidency of Barack Obama kept the State Senate firmly in their control and led to a record number of victories in the State House of Representatives. Because the legislature draws its own districts, subject to approval by the Governor, after each wt:decennial U.S. Census, the GOP created the new boundaries for the 2012 elections, the first time Texas Republicans had full control of the state government during the redistricting process. However, the proposed maps for 2012 were challenged under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and in U.S. District Court for racial gerrymandering. The biggest change in the Senate was Wendy Davis As such, this election used a different GOP-drawn map based on court-drawn boundaries.
Texas Democrats
Summary of results
| Party | Candidates | Votes | Seats | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | Before | Up | Won | After | +/– | ||||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" | | Republican | 28 | 4,327,863 | 61.94 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" | | Democratic | 18 | 2,272,085 | 32.52 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Libertarian Party (United States)/meta/color" | | Libertarian | 12 | 355,249 | 5.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Green Party (United States)/meta/color" | | Green | 2 | 31,840 | 0.46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Write-in/meta/color" | | Write-in | 1 | 966 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 6,987,503 | 100.00 | 31 | 15 | 15 | 31 | ||||||||
| Source:[2] | ||||||||||||||
| District | Democratic | Republican | Others | Total | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colspan="2" style="background:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" | | colspan="2" style="background:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" | | ||||||||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| District 1 | 84,262 | 28.63% | 210,091 | 71.37% | - | - | 294,353 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 2 | - | - | 172,451 | 100.00% | - | - | 172,451 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 3 | - | - | 226,978 | 100.00% | - | - | 226,978 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 4 | - | - | 216,076 | 86.25% | 34,445 | 13.75% | 250,521 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 5 | - | - | 182,554 | 77.14% | 54,107 | 22.86% | 236,661 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 6 | 93,289 | 70.95% | 38,201 | 29.05% | - | - | 131,490 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 7 | 90,793 | 31.60% | 196,526 | 68.40% | - | - | 287,319 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 8 | 99,101 | 34.60% | 178,238 | 62.29% | 8,899 | 3.11% | 286,147 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 9 | 89,255 | 38.21% | 136,288 | 58.35% | 8,034 | 3.44% | 233,577 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 10 | 147,103 | 51.12% | 140,656 | 48.88% | - | - | 287,759 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 11 | 93,227 | 33.98% | 181,106 | 66.02% | - | - | 274,333 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 12 | - | - | 203,988 | 83.41% | 40,570 | 16.59% | 244,558 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 13 | 181,866 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 181,866 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 14 | 212,527 | 80.29% | 52,187 | 19.71% | 52,187 | - | 264,714 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 15 | 135,822 | 62.34% | 82,038 | 37.66% | - | - | 217,860 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 16 | - | - | 181,746 | 100.00% | - | - | 181,746 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 17 | - | - | 185,429 | 77.68% | 53,278 | 22.32% | 238,707 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 18 | - | - | 211,230 | 100.00% | - | - | 211,230 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 19 | 122,214 | 59.40% | 83,522 | 40.60% | - | - | 205,736 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 20 | 112,629 | 61.53% | 70,409 | 38.47% | - | - | 183,038 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 21 | 129,894 | 67.63% | 56,032 | 29.17% | 6,147 | 3.20% | 192,073 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 22 | - | - | 188,544 | 85.57% | 31,786 | 14.43% | 220,330 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 23 | 187,407 | 81.90% | 41,429 | 18.10% | - | - | 228,836 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 24 | - | - | 209,319 | 100.00% | - | - | 209,319 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 25 | 121,906 | 34.42% | 232,261 | 65.58% | - | - | 354,167 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 26 | 141,040 | 80.33% | - | - | 34,043 | 19.67% | 175,583 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 27 | 113,542 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 113,542 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 28 | - | - | 183,619 | 86.39% | 28,932 | 13.61% | 212,551 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 29 | 116,208 | 68.60% | 53,190 | 31.40% | - | - | 169,398 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 30 | - | - | 217,877 | 86.12% | 35,127 | 13.88% | 253,004 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 31 | - | - | 195,878 | 100.00% | - | - | 195,878 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| Total | 2,272,085 | 32.52% | 4,327,863 | 61.94% | 387,555 | 5.55% | 6,987,503 | 100.00% | Source:[2] |
Notes
References
- ^ a b "Race Summary Report - 2010 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2021-04-27. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ a b c "Race Summary Report - 2012 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2021-04-25. Retrieved 2021-06-04.