1978 Texas Senate election

The 1978 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators 15 of the 31 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 66th Texas Legislature for four-year terms.

Democrats had controlled the Texas Senate since the 1872 elections.^[1] Long a part of the Solid South, Republicans had gained a foothold in the state in the past two decades, electing U.S. Senator John Tower in 1961 and electing Richard Nixon with 66% of the vote in 1972, but these gains rarely made much impact in downballot, local races. Democrats had controlled every statewide office since the end of Reconstruction and controlled large supermajorities in the legislature. Even these small numbers were an improvement from the past two decades, however, such as after the 1964 election when they held a single seat in the House and none in the Senate.^[2]

Democrat Max Sherman resigned in September 1977, and a special election was called, to be held concurrently with the November general election. No candidate received a majority of the vote, so a runoff was held in December.^[3] Former Republican Congressman Bob Price narrowly won the runoff, flipping the seat.^[4]

Despite the upset victory of Republican Bill Clements in the concurrent gubernatorial election, Republicans made no gains in the chamber. They held the one seat the controlled prior to the election and flipped no others. Combined with their special election victory in District 31, they entered the 66th Legislature with four members, up one from the start of the 65th Legislature.^[6]

• Kingston, Mike (1979). Texas Almanac, 1980-1981. Dallas, Texas: The Dallas Morning News.