2026 Texas Senate election

The 2026 Texas Senate election will be held on November 3, 2026, alongside elections for the state house.^[1] Elections will be held in 16 of the 31 Senate districts for four-year terms. The winners of this election will serve in the 90th Texas Legislature. 18 Senate seats are currently held by Republicans, 12 seats are held by Democrats, and one seat, formerly held by a Republican, is vacant. Primary elections were held on March 3, 2026, with a runoff election scheduled for May 26, 2026 in district 19, where no Republican primary candidate secured a majority of the vote.^[2]

Republicans have controlled the Senate since the 1996 election. Republicans gained one seat in the heavily-Hispanic Rio Grande Valley in the 2024 election, increasing their majority to 20 out of 31 seats.^[3]

During the regular session, the legislature passed a number of bills to advance a conservative agenda. Chief among them a school voucher bill, long a priority of the Senate which had historically been stifled in the more moderate House of Representatives.^[4] The bill allocates $1 billion of public funds for children to attend private schools or for their parents to homeschool them, prioritized based on income and disability.^[5] Other conservative hallmarks related to education included requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms, banning diversity, equity, and inclusion policies from public schools, and restricting free speech on college campuses in the wake of Gaza war protests at universities. Other new laws included the tightening of bail, restricting the rights of transgender people, easing access to vaccine exemption, and cutting property taxes.^[6] On a more bipartisan basis, the legislature passed bills to alleviate water supply issues, clarify medical exceptions in the state's abortion ban, and ease the construction of housing in amidst the state's growing housing crisis.^[7][8][9]

Greg Abbott had already planned to call a special session to address legislation that did not pass in time during the regular session or that Abbott vetoed, such as a ban on THC products, as well as to address new issues such as deadly flooding in central Texas. At the request of President Donald Trump, Abbott added congressional redistricting to the agenda with the goal of flipping five Democratic-held U.S. House seats to the Republicans in the 2026 elections.^[10] Senate Democrats staged a walkout before the final vote on the bill, with all but two of them leaving the chamber, but unlike in the House, this was not enough to break quorum and block the bill's passage.^[11] The House walkout forced the chamber to pass the bill in a second special session after their walkout ended, which it did on a party-line vote.^[12]

In the 2024 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump won 21 districts, while Democrat Kamala Harris won 10 districts. Democrats hold 2 districts in which Trump won, although only one is up for election in 2026. Republicans hold no districts won by Harris. Republicans made massive gains across the historically-Democratic Rio Grande Valley region in 2024.^[13]

1. District 3: Robert Nichols is retiring^[14]
2. District 4: Brandon Creighton resigned early to serve as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System^[15]
3. District 11: Mayes Middleton is retiring to run for Attorney General^[16]
4. District 22: Brian Birdwell is retiring^[17]

A special election took place to fill the unexpired term in Texas's 9th Senate district. A special election is scheduled for May 2, 2026, to fill the unexpired term in Texas's 4th Senate district.

Kelly Hancock resigned to become chief clerk of the Texas Comptroller's office in June 2025. A special election to serve the remainder of the term took place on November 4th, 2025.^[19] Democratic candidate Taylor Rehmet received the most votes at 47.6%. He was followed by Republicans Leigh Wambsganss, 36%, and John Huffman, 16%.^[20] Rehmet and Wembsganss advanced to a runoff held on January 31, 2026, which Rehmet unexpectedly won by a large margin.^[21]

Brandon Creighton resigned to serve as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System.^[15] A special election is scheduled for May 2, 2026. Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon is currently running in the special election as a Republican,^[24] with the endorsement of Lieutenant governor and Senate President Dan Patrick and former senator Creighton.^[25][26]

† - Incumbent not seeking re-election

Incumbent Republican Bryan Hughes is running for re-election despite speculation that he might run for attorney general.^[27] He is expected to easily win re-election against Democrat Laticia Ambroz.^[28]

Incumbent Republican Bob Hall is running for re-election.^[29] He defeated Jason Eddington in the primary, and will face Democrat Keenen Colbert in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Robert Nichols is retiring.^[30] Nichols was one of only two Republicans to vote to convict attorney general Ken Paxton during his 2023 impeachment trial, and he was the only Senate Republican to vote against school voucher legislation. Trent Ashby, state representative from the 9th district, defeated Rhonda Ward in the Republican primary.

Rhonda Ward, a first-time candidate, received nearly $2 million in campaign funds from businessman James Moyer, one of the largest donations to any legislative candidate this election cycle. The disproportionate size of Moyer's donation compare to the rest of Ward's campaign funds has raised concerns among residents about Moyer's influence over Ward, especially regarding the construction of AI data centers, although Moyer's company is not directly tied to any construction efforts in the district. Ward is considered a hardline conservative, having signed a pledge to call a referendum on Texas's secession from the United States.^[31] In contrast to this, Ashby was seen as the more moderate of the two. Lieutenant governor Dan Patrick did not endorse either candidate in the race.^[28]

Ashby will face Democrat Bobby Tillman in the general election.

Senator Brandon Creighton resigned to serve as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System.^[15] The remainder of the unfinished term will be determined by the May 2, 2026 special election. Brett Ligon, who is also a candidate in the special election, defeated Charlie Miller in the Republican primary and will face Democrat Ron Angeletti in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Charles Schwertner is running for re-election.^[32] Schwertner has faced multiple scandals during his time in office, including an arrest for driving while intoxicated and allegations of sexual harassment, although no charges were brought against him for either.^[33][34] In light of these scandals, the Austin American-Statesman endorsed challenger Apollo Hernandez in the primary against Schwertner.^[35] Schwertner defeated Hernandez and Larry Nance in the Repulican primary.

Schwertner will face Democrat Paul Thomasson in the general election.

Incumbent Democrat Taylor Rehmet was elected in a January special election runoff. He faces a rematch against Republican Leigh Wambsganss in the general election.^[36] District 9 voted heavily for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, leading Republicans to project confidence in their ability to win the district back.^[37]

Incumbent Republican Mayes Middleton is retiring to run for Attorney General.^[16] Republican state representative Dennis Paul is running to succeed Middleton, Paul's campaign was endorsed by lieutenant governor Dan Patrick.^[38] Two Democrats, coordinator Shannon Dicely and systems specialist Cameron Rollwitz, ran for the Democratic nomination, which Dicely won.

Dennis Paul and Dicely will face each other in the general election.

Incumbent Democrat Borris Miles is running for re-election unopposed.

Incumbent Republican Lois Kolkhorst is running for re-election. She will face Democrat Erica Gillum in the general election.

Incumbent Democrat Roland Gutierrez is running for re-election. The Republican primary featured candidates Marcus Cardenas, Robert Marks Jr. and Adam Ernest Salyer. No candidate in the Republican primary received over 50% and a runoff election will be held on May 26, 2026 between Cardenas and Marks.

Incumbent Democrat Judith Zaffirini is running for re-election. She defeated social worker Cortney Jones in the Democratic primary and is unopposed in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Brian Birdwell is retiring.^[17] Three Republicans filed for the nomination: State representative David Cook, McLennan County District Clerk Jon Gimble, and Angel Wings Ranch director Rena Schroeder. Cook won the primary and will face Democrat Amy Martinez-Salas in the general election.

Incumbent Republican Pete Flores is running for re-election and will face Democrat Joe Herrera in the general election.

Incumbent Democrat José Menéndez is running for re-election. He will face Julián Villarreal, the Green Party nominee for this seat in 2020.

Incumbent Republican Charles Perry is running for re-election. He will face Democrat Riley Rodriquez.

Incumbent Republican Kevin Sparks is running for re-election.^[39] He will face Democrat and Amarillo College regent John Betancourt.^[40]

• 2024 Texas elections