2026 Texas Senate election
The 2026 Texas 'Senate election' will be held concurrently to the 2026 Texas House of Representatives elections on November 3, 2026. 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.
Primary elections will be held on March 3, 2026, with runoffs taking place, if necessary, on May 26, 2026.
Background
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.2025 regular session
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. 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. 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. 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.Special sessions and redistricting
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. 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. 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.Retirements
- District 3: Robert Nichols is retiring
- District 4: Brandon Creighton resigned early to serve as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System
- District 11: Mayes Middleton is retiring to run for Attorney General
- District 22: Brian Birdwell is retiring
Special elections
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.2025 District 9 special election
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. Democratic candidate Taylor Rehmet received the most votes at 47.6%. He was followed by Republicans Leigh Wambsganss, 36%, and John Huffman, 16%. Rehmet and Wembsganss advanced to a runoff held on January 31, 2026, which Rehmet unexpectedly won by a large margin.2026 District 4 special election
Brandon Creighton resigned to serve as Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. A special election is scheduled for May 2, 2026.Declared
- Brett Ligon, Montgomery County District Attorney
Summary of results by district
† - Incumbent not seeking re-electionDetailed results
District 1
Incumbent Republican Bryan Hughes is running for re-election.District 2
Incumbent Republican Bob Hall is running for re-election.District 3
Incumbent Republican Robert Nichols is retiring. Trent Ashby, state representative from the 9th district, is running to replace him.District 4
The incumbent will be determined by the May 2, 2026 special election.District 5
Incumbent Republican Charles Schwertner is running for re-election.Republican primary
Declared
- Apollo Hernandez, former Recon Marine combat veteran and cybersecurity expert
- Larry Nance
- Charles Schwertner, incumbent senator
Democratic primary
Declared
- Kevin Nelson, former educator
- Paul Thomasson, former pastor
District 9
Incumbent Democrat Taylor Rehmet was elected in a January special election runoff. He faces a rematch against Republican Leigh Wambsganss in the general election.District 11
Incumbent Republican Mayes Middleton is retiring to run for Attorney General.Republican primary
Declared
- Dennis Paul, state representative from the 129th district
Endorsements
Democratic primary
Declared
- Shannon Dicely, coordinator
- Cameron Rollwitz, systems specialist
District 13
Incumbent Democrat Borris Miles is running for re-election.District 18
Incumbent Republican Lois Kolkhorst is running for re-election.District 19
Incumbent Democrat Roland Gutierrez is running for re-election.District 21
Incumbent Democrat Judith Zaffirini is running for re-election.Democratic primary
Declared
- Judith Zaffirini, incumbent senator
- Cortney Jones, social work
District 22
Incumbent Republican Brian Birdwell is retiring.Republican primary
Declared
- David Cook, state representative from the 96th district
- Jon Gimble, McLennan County District Clerk
- Rena Schroeder, director of the Angel Wings Ranch
Democratic primary
Declared
- Amy Martinez-Salas