The 2026 Texas House of Representatives election will be held on November 3, 2026 alongside elections for the State Senate. The winners of this election will serve in the 90th Texas Legislature. All 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives are up for election.
Primary elections will be held on March 3, 2026, with runoff primaries taking place, if necessary, on May 26, 2026.[1]
Background
Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives since the 2002 election. The 2024 election marked a considerable shift towards the right among the membership of the House of Representatives. Fifteen Republicans lost their primary elections, with the majority of their challengers backed by governor Greg Abbott for their support of school vouchers. Republicans flipped two seats in the heavily-HispanicRio Grande Valley in the general election, increasing their majority to 88 out of 150 seats, with the Democrats holding the other 62.[2]
2025 regular session
During the regular session, the legislature passed a number of bills to advance a conservative agenda. The session began, however, with the election of Dustin Burrows as Speaker of the House with the support of most Democrats and some Republicans, over more insurgent Republican David Cook.[3]
Long a priority of the most conservative Republicans in the legislature, especially in the Senate, that had historically faced major hurdles in the more moderate House, the passage of school voucher legislation marked the most significant sign of the conservative shift of the chamber in recent years. In 2021, only 29 Republicans had voted in favor of vouchers. Greg Abbott began pushing the issue more strongly in 2022, gaining support from many incumbent Republicans and funding the primary challengers of those who still opposed it.[4] By the time the measure came up for a vote in the 2025 regular session, only two Republicans, Gary VanDeaver and former Speaker Dade Phelan, voted against it, alongside all present Democrats.[5] 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.[6]
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.[11] In response, most House Democrats left the state on August 3 in order to prevent the establishment of a quorum in the chamber, blocking all legislative activity.[12] The walkout lasted for the entire remaining duration of the first special session, after which Abbott immediately called a second one. Democrats returned to the chamber for the second session.[13] The legislature passed new congressional maps shortly afterwards, and they later passed additional legislation to punish lawmakers who break quorum in the future.[14][15]
District partisanship
2024 Presidential data by House district:
Trump
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Harris
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
In the 2024 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump won 96 districts, while Democrat Kamala Harris won 54 districts. Democrats now hold 8 districts in which Trump won, while Republicans hold no districts won by Harris. Republicans made massive gains across the historically-Democratic Rio Grande Valley region in 2024.[16] Most of the Democratic-held districts won by Trump come from this region. Republicans have fielded candidates in 6 of these districts.
14 Republicans and 7 Democrats have announced that they are retiring. 7 Republicans and 4 Democrats have announced they are running for another office.
Ahead of the March primary election, Democrats announced that they had recruited candidates to run in every state and federal race on the ballot, including all 150 House of Representatives districts, a first for either political party in the state's modern history. Governor Greg Abbott pushed to recruit candidates to run in every district in Harris County as well, as part of an attempt to flip the county in his concurrent gubernatorial campaign.[40] With bolstered recruiting in several Trump-won districts in the heavily-HispanicRio Grande Valley as well, Republicans are contesting 133 of the state's 150 districts, the most in their party's modern history as well.
Results
Statewide
Summary of the November 3, 2026 Texas House of Representatives election results
Incumbent Republican Gary VanDeaver is retiring.[17] On October 11, 2025, the Texas GOP issued a censure against VanDeaver, but stopped short of implementing newly adopted rules that would have barred VanDeaver from running in the Republican primary.[43]
Incumbent Republican Angelia Orr is running for re-election.[49] On October 11, 2025, the Texas GOP issued a censure against Orr, but stopped short of implementing newly adopted rules that would have barred Orr from running in the Republican primary.[43]
Incumbent Republican Dade Phelan is retiring.[22] On October 11, 2025, the Texas GOP issued a censure against Phelan, but stopped short of implementing newly adopted rules that would have barred Phelan from running in the Republican primary.[43]
Incumbent Democrat James Talarico is retiring to run for US Senate.[36] Jeremy Hendricks, a labor organizer, has received the endorsement of several Austin-area Democrats, including U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, state senator Sarah Eckhardt, and mayor Kirk Watson.[60]
Incumbent Republican Stan Lambert is retiring.[23] On October 11, 2025, the Texas GOP issued a censure against Lambert, but stopped short of implementing newly adopted rules that would have barred Lambert from running in the Republican primary.[43]
Incumbent Republican Jared Patterson is running for re-election. On October 11, 2025, the Texas GOP issued a censure against Patterson, but stopped short of implementing newly adopted rules that would have barred Patterson from running in the Republican primary.[43]
↑Serrano, Alejandro (October 27, 2025). "Rep. Nate Schatzline to join faith group, not seek reelection". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved October 27, 2025. After Schatzline announced he would not seek reelection Monday, Fort Worth City Council member Alan Blaylock said he would seek the vacant seat representing north Fort Worth.
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