2010 Texas elections

2010 Texas Election

← 2009 November 2, 2010 (2010-11-02) 2011 →

Elections were held in Texas on Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on March 2, 2010.

The Republican Party continued its dominance over Texas politics, maintaining control of all statewide offices and increasing its majorities in both chambers of the Texas Legislature. The GOP also picked up control of three additional seats in the United States House of Representatives.

Federal

United States House of Representatives

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2010

All 32 Texas seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

State

Governor

Main article: Texas gubernatorial election, 2010

See also: United States gubernatorial elections, 2010 and Texas lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010

Incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry ran for re-election against Democratic challenger and former mayor of Houston Bill White and several third-party candidates, and won.

Lieutenant governor

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst ran for re-election and won.

Results by county

Dewhurst:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

Chavez-Thompson:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Attorney general

2010 Texas Attorney General Election

←  2006 November 2, 2010 2014  →

Nominee Greg Abbott Barbara Ann Radnofsky Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,151,064 1,655,859 Percentage 64.06% 33.66%

County results Abbott:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     >90% Radnofsky:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     80-90%

Attorney General before election Greg Abbott Republican Elected Attorney General Greg Abbott Republican

Incumbent Republican Greg Abbott ran for re-election as Texas Attorney General against Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky and Libertarian candidate Jon Roland, and won.

State senate

Main article: 2010 Texas State Senate election

Approximately half of the 31 seats of the Texas Senate were up for election in 2010.

State House of Representatives

Main article: 2010 Texas House of Representatives election

All 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives were up for election in 2010. The GOP captured 99 seats (a record), including 22 that were held by Democrats after the 2008 Texas House of Representatives election. This left the Democrats with 51 seats. Edmund Kuempel, the incumbent GOP candidate for District 44 seat, subsequently died; the seat was filled by special election on December 14 and won by his son, John, also a Republican. Also on December 14, two Democrats (Allan Ritter and Aaron Peña) announced they were switching parties and joining the Republicans, thus giving the GOP 101 seats, and a 2/3 majority in the House, giving them considerable leverage. ^{[1] [2]} Under Texas law, any bill which passes with 2/3 of both legislative chambers can become effective immediately upon the governor's signature (otherwise a bill does not become effective until September 1, the start of Texas' fiscal year). This also meant that the Democrats could not quorum bust, or deprive the House of the 2/3 of members required for operation. ^[3]

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican Commissioner Todd Staples successfully ran for re-election to a second term.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Todd Staples, incumbent commissioner of agriculture

Results

Republican primary results ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Todd Staples (incumbent)	1,110,353	100.00%
Total votes			1,110,353	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Hank Gilbert, cattle rancher, nominee for the same office in 2006 ^[5]
• Kinky Friedman, musician, novelist, and candidate for governor in 2006 ^[6]

Results of the 2010 Agricultural Commissioner Democratic Primary by County

County Results

• Gilbert:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     100%
  Friedman:     50–60%     60–70%

Results

Democratic primary results ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hank Gilbert	311,087	52.31%
	Democratic	Kinky Friedman	283,614	47.69%
Total votes			594,701	100.0%

General Election

Results

2010 Texas agricultural commissioner election ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Todd Staples (incumbent)	2,953,775	60.82%	{{{change}}}
	Democratic	Hank Gilbert	1,738,456	35.80%
	Libertarian	Rick Donaldson	164,035	3.38%
Total votes			4,856,266	100.0%
	Republican hold

Results by county

Staples:

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

Gilbert:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Other state offices

Elections were held for the positions of Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of General Land Office, and Railroad Commissioner in 2010.

Comptroller general results by county

Combs:

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

Land commissioner results by county

Patterson:

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

Uribe:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

Railroad commissioner results by county

Porter:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%
•   90–100%

Weems:

•   40–50%
•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Legislative elections

See also: Eighty-second Texas Legislature

Texas House of Representatives

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
Beginning of the 81st legislature	76	74	150	0
Before 2010 elections	77	72	149	1
Voting share	51%	48%
After 2010 elections	99	51	150	0
Beginning of the 82nd legislature	101	49	150	0
Voting share	67%	33%

Texas Senate

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)		Total
	Republican	Democratic		Vacant
Before 2010 elections	19	12	31	0
Voting share	61%	39%
After 2010 elections	19	12	31	0
Voting share	61%	39%

Judicial positions

Multiple judicial positions were up for election in 2010, including three justices on the Texas Supreme Court.

• Texas judicial elections, 2010 at Judgepedia

Ballot measures

There are no statewide ballot measures in Texas in 2010.

Local

Many elections for county and city offices were also held on November 2, 2010.

References

1. Ramsey, Ross (December 12, 2010). "TribBlog: Ritter Confirms He's Switching Parties". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
2. Hamilton, Reeve (December 14, 2010). "TribBlog: Peña on Party Switching". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
3. "THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 3. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT". statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
4. "2010 Republican Party Primary Election - Race Summary Report". Office of Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
5. "PolitiFact | Hank Gilbert". February 7, 2024. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
6. "Kinky Exits Governor's Race". Texas Tribune. February 7, 2024. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
7. "2018 Democratic Party Primary Election - Race Summary Report". Office of Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
8. "2018 General Election - Race Summary Report". Office of Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 15, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2024.

External links

• Elections Division of the Texas Secretary of State
• Texas Candidate List at Imagine Election - Search for candidates by address or zip code
• Texas Congressional Races in 2010 for campaign finance data for federal races from OpenSecrets
• Texas State Races in 2010 campaign finance data for state races from Follow the Money