The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US 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.
Robert Franklin Deuell, known as Bob Deuell is a physician from Greenville, Texas, and a former Republican member of the Texas Senate. He entered office in 2003 and represented the ten counties of Senate District 2 in the northeastern portion of the state. His term ended in 2015.
Florence Donald Shapiro is an American politician from Texas. Her political career lasted over 30 years and coincided with Plano's growth from a bedroom community of 17,000 to a city of almost 300,000 residents. After moving to Plano in 1972, she served on the Plano City Council from 1979 to 1990 and served as the city's first female and Jewish elected mayor from 1990 to 1992.
Kyle Janek is an American physician and former Republican member of the Texas Senate, having represented District 17 from November 2002 until June 2, 2008. The district includes portions of Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Jefferson counties. Janek was not a candidate for renomination to the state Senate in the Republican primary held on March 4.
Jane Gray Nelson (born October 5, 1951) is an American businesswoman and former educator who serves as the Secretary of State of Texas since 2023. She was a Texas state senator who represented Texas Senate District 12. She was elected to the Senate in 1992 after serving two two-year terms (1988–1992) on the Texas State Board of Education. In 2023, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Nelson to succeed John B. Scott as Secretary of State. She was sworn in to that office on Saturday, January 7.
John Harris Whitmire is an American attorney and politician who is the 63rd mayor of Houston, Texas, the most populous city in Texas. A member of the Democratic Party, Whitmire was a member of the Texas State Senate from 1983 to 2023, representing District 15, which included much of northern Houston.
John Joseph Carona is a former Republican member of the Texas Senate from District 16 in Dallas County, Texas, serving as President pro tempore during the 80th legislature. Previously, Carona served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin, Texas since 2023, previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
Kelton Gray Seliger, known as Kel Seliger, is a former Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 31, which stretches from the Panhandle south to the Permian Basin.
Steve Ogden is a businessman from Bryan, Texas, who is a former Republican member of the Texas Senate representing the 5th District. Ogden became a state senator in January 1997. He chaired Texas Senate Finance Committee. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas A&M University in College Station.
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.
Kenneth L. Armbrister is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the Texas Senate representing the 18th District from 1987 to 2007.
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.
Barry Kip Averitt is an American politician who served as a member of the Texas Senate from the 22nd District from 2002 to 2010.
Earl Jeffrey Wentworth is a Republican former member of the Texas Senate from San Antonio. He represented District 25 in the upper legislative chamber from January 1997 to January 2013. In addition, from 1993 to 1997, he represented District 26, having been initially elected to the state senate in 1992 to succeed fellow Republican Cyndi Taylor Krier, when she became the county judge of Bexar County. District 25 included northern portions of Bexar County, all of Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, and Kendall counties, and a part of southern Travis County.
Craig Linton Estes is an American businessman and former Republican member of the Texas Senate for the 30th District. He served on the Health and Human Services, Nominations, and State Affairs Committees, and was the chairman of the Natural Resources & Economic Development Committee. He also served as the President Pro Tempore of the Texas Senate for the 83rd interim session.
Glenn Allen Hegar Jr. is an American attorney who serves as Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. He was a Republican member of the Texas Senate representing the 18th District, west of Houston. He succeeded fellow Republican Susan Combs as comptroller on January 2, 2015. He was elected Comptroller in the general election on November 4, 2014.
In the United States, black conservatism is a political and social movement rooted in African-American communities that aligns largely with the American conservative movement, including the Christian right. Black conservatism emphasizes social conservatism, traditionalism, patriotism, capitalism, and free markets. What characterizes a "black conservative" has changed over time, and proponents do not necessarily share the same political philosophy.
Paul Lindsey Sadler is an American attorney from Henderson, Texas, now residing in Bandera, Texas who served from 1991 to 2003 in the Texas House of Representatives. He was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2012. In the November 6 general election, he lost against the Republican Ted Cruz, a former state Solicitor General.
The 2008 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in 16 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 81st Texas Legislature. The elected senators served four-year terms in the Texas Senate.
