Texas Senate

Last updated

Texas Senate
Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature
Seal of State Senate of Texas.svg
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 10, 2023
Leadership
Dan Patrick (R)
since January 20, 2015
Charles Schwertner (R)
since May 29, 2023
Majority Leader
Angela Paxton (R)
since September 16, 2023
Minority Leader
Carol Alvarado (D)
since January 8, 2020
Structure
Seats31
Texas Senate Feb. 2024.svg
Political groups
Majority
  •    Republican (19)

Minority

Length of term
4 years (with one 2-year term each decade)
AuthorityArticle 3, Texas Constitution
Salary$7,200/year + per diem
Elections
First-past-the-post
Last election
November 8, 2022
(31 seats)
Next election
November 5, 2024
(15 seats)
RedistrictingLegislative control
Meeting place
Austin, Texas (2018) - 084.jpg
State Senate Chamber
Texas State Capitol
Austin, Texas
Website
Texas State Senate

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, they compose the state legislature of the state of Texas.

Contents

There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 940,000 per constituency, based on the 2020 U.S. Census. Elections are held in even-numbered years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

There are no term limits. Terms are four years in length, with one two-year term each decade. Senators are divided into two groups based in part on the intervening Census:

As such, every two years, about half of the Texas Senate is on the ballot.

The Senate meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Republicans currently control the chamber, which is made up of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats.

Leadership

The Lieutenant Governor of Texas serves as the President of the Senate. Unlike most lieutenant governors who are constitutionally designated as presiding officers of the upper house, the Lieutenant Governor regularly presides over the chamber rather than delegate this role to the President Pro Tempore. The Lieutenant Governor's duties include appointing chairs of committees, committee members, assigning and referring bills to specific committees, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. The Lieutenant Governor may also cast a vote should a Senate floor vote end in a tie. If the Senate votes to dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole, in which all members are part of the Committee, the President Pro-Tempore presides over the proceedings, with the Lieutenant Governor acting as a regular voting member. Due to the various powers of committee selection and bill assignment, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas is considered one of the most powerful lieutenant governorships in the United States.

Unlike other state legislatures, the Texas Senate does not include majority or minority leaders. Instead, the President Pro Tempore is considered the second most powerful position, and can be reserved to any political party in the chamber regardless if the party is a majority or not. Presidents Pro Tempore are usually the most senior members of the Senate. The President Pro Tempore presides when the Lieutenant Governor is not present or when the legislature is not in regular session.

Leaders

PositionNamePartyResidenceDistrict
Lieutenant Governor/President of the Senate Dan Patrick Republican Houston Elected Statewide
President Pro Tempore Charles Schwertner Republican Georgetown 5

History

Quorum-busting

There have been at least three cases of quorum-busting in Texas Senate history. The first case was in 1870, with the Rump Senate, followed by the 1979 Killer Bees [1] and finally the "Texas Eleven" in August 2003 during the controversial mid-decade redistricting plan at the time. [2]

Committee structure

The following represents the Senate committee structure for the 88th Legislature (numbers in parentheses are the number of committee members, as appointed by the President of the Texas Senate). [3]

In addition to these committees, there are also six joint committees composed of members of both the State Senate and House:

Current composition

AffiliationParty
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total
Republican Democrat Vacant
January, 20241911311
Latest voting share
Senate districts and party affiliation after the 2022 election
Republican Party
Democratic Party TxSen2022Comp.svg
Senate districts and party affiliation after the 2022 election
  Republican Party
  Democratic Party

List of members

DistrictSenatorPartyResidenceFirst
elected
Next
election
Counties represented
1 Bryan Hughes Republican Mineola 20162026 Bowie, Camp, Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison, Lamar, Marion, Morris, Panola, Red River, Rusk, Smith, Titus, Wood, Upshur
2 Bob Hall Republican Edgewood 20142026 Dallas (part), Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall, Van Zandt
3 Robert Nichols Republican Jacksonville 20062026 Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Henderson, Houston, Jasper, Liberty, Montgomery (part), Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler
4 Brandon Creighton Republican The Woodlands 2014†2026 Chambers, Galveston (part), Harris (part), Jefferson, Montgomery (part)
5 Charles Schwertner Republican Georgetown 20122026 Brazos, Freestone, Grimes, Leon, Limestone, Madison, Milam, Robertson, Walker, Williamson
6 Carol Alvarado Democratic Houston 2018†2024Harris (part)
7 Paul Bettencourt Republican Houston 20142024Harris (part)
8 Angela Paxton Republican Plano 20182024 Collin (part), Dallas (part)
9 Kelly Hancock Republican Fort Worth 20122026Dallas (part), Tarrant (part)
10 Phil King Republican Weatherford 20222024Tarrant (part)
11 Mayes Middleton Republican Galveston 20222026 Brazoria (part), Galveston (part), Harris (part)
12 Tan Parker Republican Flower Mound 20222024 Denton (part), Tarrant (part)
13 Borris Miles Democratic Houston 20162026 Fort Bend (part), Harris (part)
14 Sarah Eckhardt Democratic Austin 2020†2024 Bastrop, Travis (part)
15 VacantHarris (part)
16 Nathan M. Johnson Democratic Dallas 20182024Dallas (part)
17 Joan Huffman Republican Southside Place 2008†2024Brazoria (part), Fort Bend (part), Harris (part)
18 Lois Kolkhorst Republican Katy 20142026 Aransas, Austin, Burleson, Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette, Fort Bend (part), Goliad, Gonzales, Harris (part), Jackson, Lavaca, Lee, Matagorda, Nueces (part), Refugio, Victoria, Waller, Washington, Wharton
19 Roland Gutierrez Democratic San Antonio 20202026 Atascosa (part), Bexar (part), Brewster, Crockett, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Kinney, Maverick, Medina, Pecos, Real, Reeves, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Zavala
20 Juan Hinojosa Democratic McAllen 20022024 Brooks, Hidalgo (part), Jim Wells, Nueces (part)
21 Judith Zaffirini Democratic Laredo 19862026Atascosa (part), Bee, Bexar (part), Caldwell, Duval, Guadalupe (part), Hays (part), Jim Hogg, Karnes, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen, San Patricio, Starr, Travis (part), Webb, Wilson, Zapata
22 Brian Birdwell Republican Granbury 2010†2026 Bosque, Ellis, Falls, Frio, Hill, Hood, Johnson, McLennan, Navarro, Somervell, Tarrant (part)
23 Royce West Democratic Dallas 19922024Dallas (part), Tarrant (part)
24 Pete Flores Republican Pleasanton 20222026 Bandera, Bell, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Comanche, Coryell, Gillespie, Hamilton, Kerr, Lampasas, Llano, Mills, San Saba, Taylor (part), Travis(part)
25 Donna Campbell Republican New Braunfels 20122024Bexar (part), Comal, Guadalupe (part) Hays (part), Kendall, Travis (part)
26 Jose Menendez Democratic San Antonio 2015†2026Bexar (part)
27 Morgan LaMantia Democratic South Padre Island 20222024 Cameron, Hidalgo (part), Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy
28 Charles Perry Republican Lubbock 2014†2026 Baylor, Borden, Childress, Coke, Coleman, Concho, Cottle, Crane, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Eastland, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Garza, Hale, Hardeman, Haskell, Hockley, Irion, Jones, Kent, Kimble, King, Knox, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Mason, McColluch, Menard, Mitchell, Motley, Nolan, Reagan, Runnels, Sleicher, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Taylor (part), Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Upton, Ward, Wilbarger
29 Cesar Blanco Democratic El Paso 20202024 Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Presidio
30 Drew Springer Republican Vernon 2020†2024 Archer, Clay, Collin (part), Cooke, Denton (part), Erath, Grayson, Jack, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Wichita, Wise, Young
31 Kevin Sparks Republican Midland 20222026 Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Cochran, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Ector, Gaines, Glasscock, Gray, Hall, Hansford, Hartley, Hemphill, Howard, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Loving, Martin, Midland, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, Wheeler, Winkler, Yoakum

†Elected in a special election

Notable past members

Past composition of the Senate

The Senate was continuously held by Democrats from the end of the Reconstruction era until the Seventy-fifth Texas Legislature was seated in 1997, at which point Republicans took control. The Republican Party has maintained its control of the Senate since then.

Obsolete districts

See also

Notes

  1. This committees has six members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, and one Senator appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; the Committee in turn hires and oversees the State Auditor of Texas.
  2. This committee has ten members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, three Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and two Representatives appointed by the Speaker.
  3. This committee has six members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, two Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and one Representative appointed by the Speaker.
  4. This committee has 14 members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the House Administration Committee, six Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and five Representatives appointed by the Speaker.

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References

  1. "12 Texas State Senators, Claiming Political Victory, Come Out of Hiding". New York Times. May 23, 1979. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  2. Fikac, Peggy, August 21, 2003, Senators' 1870 walkout also drew GOP's wrath Reconstruction-era tiff led to arrests and one expulsion, San Antonio Express-News
  3. "Wednesday, January 11, 2023 - 2nd Day".
  4. "Texas State Auditor's Office - Legislative Audit Committee".
  5. "Legislative Budget Board".
  6. "Legislative Reference Library |". lrl.texas.gov. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  7. "Texas Legislative Council". tlc.texas.gov.

30°16′28″N97°44′24″W / 30.274537°N 97.739906°W / 30.274537; -97.739906