The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, but also due to Texas's plural executive.
Dan Goeb Patrick is an American radio talk show host, television broadcaster, and politician. He has been serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Texas since January 2015, under Governor Greg Abbott.
District 18 of the Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves all of Aransas, Austin, Burleson, Calhoun, DeWitt, Fayette, Goliad, Gonzales, Grimes, Lavaca, Lee, Refugio, Victoria, and Washington counties, and portions of Fort Bend, Harris, Montgomery, Waller counties in the U.S. state of Texas.
Judith Pappas Zaffirini is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from the 21st District, which includes her home city of Laredo in south Texas. Zaffririni is the first female dean of the Texas Senate. Zaffirini has been named among the "Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States" by Hispanic Business magazine. Zaffirini is the first Mexican American woman elected to the Texas Senate.
Leticia Rosa Magdalena Aguilar Van de Putte (née San Miguel; born December 6, 1954) is an American politician from San Antonio, Texas. She represented the 26th District in the Texas Senate from 1999–2015. From 1991 to 1999, Van de Putte was a member of the Texas House of Representatives. In 2014, she was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor but lost the general election, 58-39 percent, to her Republican senatorial colleague, Dan Patrick of Houston. Following that defeat, she then resigned from the Texas Senate to run for mayor of San Antonio, which she narrowly lost to Ivy Taylor, 52-48 percent.
John Spencer Sharp is an American Democratic politician from Texas, who has served since 2011 as the chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. From 1991 to 1999, he was the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. From 1979 to 1987, he was a member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature. From 1987 to 1991, he was a commissioner of the Railroad Commission of Texas. In 1998 and 2002, he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Texas.
Joan J. Huffman is an American politician serving as a Republican member of the Texas Senate who represents District 17, which includes portions of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris county.
Joseph Richard Straus III is an American politician who served as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, including parts of San Antonio and several surrounding communities, from his first election to the House in 2005 until his retirement in 2019. He chose not to seek re-election to the state House in 2018.
Wendy Russell Davis is an American lawyer and politician from Fort Worth, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Davis represented the 10th district in the Texas Senate from 2009 to 2015. She previously served on the Fort Worth City Council.
Charles Jeffrey Schwertner is an American orthopedic surgeon and politician from Georgetown, Texas. He has served in the Texas State Senate since November 6, 2012, after having represented House District 20 in the Texas House of Representatives for a single term beginning in January 2011. He is a Republican.
Charles Brandon Creighton is an American attorney and politician from Conroe, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas Senate from District 4, and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 16.
Steve Hixson Toth is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 15, The Woodlands area.
Jonathan Spence Stickland is an American politician from Texas. A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 92 for four terms, from 2013 to 2021. The district includes a portion of Tarrant County in suburban Fort Worth. He did not seek re-election in 2020.
Matthew McDade Phelan is an American real estate developer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he serves in Texas House of Representatives representing District 21, which includes most of Jefferson and all of Orange and Jasper counties in the southeast corner of the state. He has been Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since January 2021.
Thomas John Oliverson is an American politician and anesthesiologist who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 130.
Valoree Hanson Swanson is an American politician who serves as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives. She was first elected in 2016, when she unseated incumbent Debbie Riddle in the Republican primary election. She then defeated Democrat Michael Shawn Kelly in the 2016 general election.
The 84th Texas Legislature began on January 13, 2015. All members of the House and Senate were elected in the general election held on November 4, 2014.
Ginny Klevorn is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Klevorn represents District 42B in the western Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the city of Plymouth and parts of Hennepin County.
Brian Edward Harrison is an American government official who served as chief of staff of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). He ran for the United States House of Representatives in the 2021 special election for Texas's 6th congressional district, gaining 10.8% of the vote and placing fourth in a field of 23 candidates. He won the special election race for the Texas House of Representatives District 10 on September 28, 2021.
Miles Teel Bivins was an American diplomat and politician. He served as a Republican member for the 31st district of the Texas Senate, and also as the 18th United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden.
