2012 Texas Senate election

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2012 Texas Senate election
Flag of Texas.svg
  2010 November 6, 2012 2014  

All 31 seats in the Texas State Senate
16 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
 
Party Republican Democratic Libertarian
Last election19 seats, 70.65% [1] 12 seats, 22.71% [1] 0 seats, 6.61% [1]
Seats before19120
Seats won19120
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote4,327,8632,272,085355,249
Percentage62.65%32.76%5.12%
SwingDecrease2.svg 8.00%Increase2.svg 10.05%Decrease2.svg 1.49%

TxSen2012Results.png
Election results
     Republican hold
     Democratic hold

President Pro Tempore before election


Republican

Elected President Pro Tempore


Republican

The 2012 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in all 31 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 83rd Texas Legislature, with seats apportioned among the 2010 United States census.

Contents

Background

The Republican Party had held the 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. Republicans reached a new zenith after the 2010 elections, when backlash to the presidency of Barack Obama kept the Senate firmly in their control and led to a record number of victories in the House of Representatives. [2] As the first election after the 2010 United States Census, all Senate districts had to be redrawn to account for population changes over the preceding decade. Typically, State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate; however, all Senate seats come up for election in the cycle after decennial redistricting. Due to this, senators elected in 2010 served only two-year terms, and half of the senators elected in this election served two-year terms, coming up for re-election again in 2014. To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain four seats.

Challenges to Republican-drawn Senate map

Republicans had sole control over redistricting the state's U.S. House delegation and both state legislative chambers for the 2012 elections. The 10th Senate District, the most-altered in the body, belonged to Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth), whose seat was drawn to add more Republican voters from greater Tarrant County while placing voters from Democratic areas out of the district. However, the proposed Senate map for 2012 was challenged under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and in U.S. District Court for racial gerrymandering. The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled with the plaintiffs and proposed its own example map, undoing the racial gerrymander in Senate District 10, and ordered the legislature to draw a new map based on its own. Ultimately, this election used boundaries made with input from both the Court and Republican legislators. [3] [4] [5]

Results

Republicans heavily invested in winning the 10th district, which was the only competitive district in the state. The race became one of the most expensive legislative races in the 2012 election cycle. Republicans ultimately failed to unseat Davis, however, and every other seat in the state remained safely with their respective parties, maintaining the balance of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the Senate. [6] [7] [8]

Statewide

Summary of the November 6, 2012 Texas Senate election results
Texas State Senate 2012.svg
PartyCandidatesVotesSeats
No. %BeforeUpWonAfter+/–
Republican 274,275,67661.65%19191919Steady2.svg
Democratic 182,272,08532.76%12121212Steady2.svg
Libertarian 12355,2495.12%0000Steady2.svg
Green 231,8400.46%0000Steady2.svg
Write-in 19660.00%0000Steady2.svg
Total6,987,503100.00%31151531Steady2.svg
Source: [9]
Popular vote
Republican
61.65%
Democratic
32.76%
Libertarian
5.12%
Green
0.46%
Write-in
0.00%
Senate seats won
Republican
61.29%
Democratic
38.71%

Close races

DistrictWinnerMargin
District 10Democratic2.24%

Results by district

DistrictDemocraticRepublicanOthersTotalResult
Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%
District 1 84,26228.63%210,09171.37%--294,353100.00%Republican hold
District 2 --172,451100.00%--172,451100.00%Republican hold
District 3 --226,978100.00%--226,978100.00%Republican hold
District 4 --216,07686.25%34,44513.75%250,521100.00%Republican hold
District 5 --182,55477.14%54,10722.86%236,661100.00%Republican hold
District 6 93,28970.95%38,20129.05%--131,490100.00%Democratic hold
District 7 90,79331.60%196,52668.40%--287,319100.00%Republican hold
District 8 99,10134.60%178,23862.29%8,8993.11%286,147100.00%Republican hold
District 9 89,25538.21%136,28858.35%8,0343.44%233,577100.00%Republican hold
District 10 147,10351.12%140,65648.88%--287,759100.00%Democratic hold
District 11 93,22733.98%181,10666.02%--274,333100.00%Republican hold
District 12 --203,98883.41%40,57016.59%244,558100.00%Republican hold
District 13 181,866100.00%----181,866100.00%Democratic hold
District 14 212,52780.29%--52,18719.71%264,714100.00%Democratic hold
District 15 135,82262.34%82,03837.66%--217,860100.00%Democratic hold
District 16 --181,746100.00%--181,746100.00%Republican hold
District 17 --185,42977.68%53,27822.32%238,707100.00%Republican hold
District 18 --211,230100.00%--211,230100.00%Republican hold
District 19 122,21459.40%83,52240.60%--205,736100.00%Democratic hold
District 20 112,62961.53%70,40938.47%--183,038100.00%Democratic hold
District 21 129,89467.63%56,03229.17%6,1473.20%192,073100.00%Democratic hold
District 22 --188,54485.57%31,78614.43%220,330100.00%Republican hold
District 23 187,40781.90%41,42918.10%--228,836100.00%Democratic hold
District 24 --209,319100.00%--209,319100.00%Republican hold
District 25 121,90634.42%232,26165.58%--354,167100.00%Republican hold
District 26 141,04080.33%--34,04319.67%175,583100.00%Democratic hold
District 27 113,542100.00%----113,542100.00%Democratic hold
District 28 --183,61986.39%28,93213.61%212,551100.00%Republican hold
District 29 116,20868.60%53,19031.40%--169,398100.00%Democratic hold
District 30 --217,87786.12%35,12713.88%253,004100.00%Republican hold
District 31 --195,878100.00%--195,878100.00%Republican hold
Total2,272,08532.76%4,275,67661.65%387,5555.59%6,935,316100.00%Source: [9]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Race Summary Report - 2010 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  2. Brown, Brandi Grissom, Reeve Hamilton, Elise Hu, Ross Ramsey, Emily Ramshaw, Morgan Smith, Matt Stiles, Julián Aguilar, David Muto, Kate Galbraith, Becca Aaronson, Julie Chang, Tristan Hallman and Emily (November 3, 2010). "Red November". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 7, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Ramsey, Ross; Murphy, Ryan (November 17, 2011). "Federal Judges Propose Map for Texas Legislative Districts". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. Ramsey, Ross (February 28, 2012). "Court Delivers Maps for Texas House, Congress". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  5. Ramsey, Ross (August 28, 2012). "Court: Texas Redistricting Maps Don't Protect Minority Voters". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  6. "Wendy Davis narrowly defeats Mark Shelton in state Senate District 10". Dallas News. November 7, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  7. Ramshaw, Emily (November 7, 2012). "Wendy Davis Clinches Re-election in SD-10". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. Ramsey, Ross (November 26, 2012). "Texas Democrats Gained, if Only a Little, in 2012". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Race Summary Report - 2012 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.