2010 Texas Senate election

The 2010 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 82nd Texas Legislature. State senators typically serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate, but all Senators come up for election in the cycles following each decennial redistricting. As such, all of the seats up for this election were for two-year terms, with senators up for re-election in the following 2012 Texas State Senate elections.

2010 Texas Senate election

← 2008 November 4, 2010 2012 →

16 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate
16 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Republican Democratic Libertarian
Seats before 19 12 0
Seats won 19 12 0
Seat change Steady Steady Steady
Popular vote 1,839,653 591,423 172,017
Percentage 70.65% 22.71% 6.61%
Swing Increase16.98% Decrease17.43% Increase 0.42%

Senate results by district
     Republican hold      Democratic hold
     No election

President Pro Tempore before election


Republican

Elected President Pro Tempore


Republican

Following the 2008 Texas Senate election, the Republicans maintained effective control of the Senate with nineteen members to the Democrats' twelve.

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain four seats. In the end, no seats changed hands.

Background

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The Republican Party had held the State Senate since the 1996 elections.

Summary of race results

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Summary of the November 2, 2010 Texas Senate election results
 
Party Candidates Votes Seats
No. % Before Up Won After +/–
Republican 16 1,839,653 70.65 19 11 11 19  
Democratic 8 591,423 22.71 12 5 5 12  
Libertarian 8 172,017 6.61 0 0 0 0  
Write-in 1 885 0.03 0 0 0 0  
Total 2,603,976 100.00 31 31  
Source:[1]
Popular vote
Republican
70.65%
Democratic
22.71%
Libertarian
6.61%
Write-in
0.03%
Senate seats won
Republican
61.29%
Democratic
38.71%

Close races

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District Winner Margin
District 19 Democratic 7.06%

Summary of results by State Senate district

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District Democratic Republican Others Total Result
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
District 1 - - 140,273 100.00% - - 140,273 100.00% Republican hold
District 2 53,566 33.62% 105,779 66.38% - - 159,345 100.00% Republican hold
District 3 - - 153,906 88.90% 19,211 11.10% 173,117 100.00% Republican hold
District 5 58,525 28.73% 145,170 71.27% - - 203,695 100.00% Republican hold
District 7 - - 184,704 86.41% 29,048 13.59% 213,752 100.00% Republican hold
District 8 - - 136,369 84.02% 25,935 15.98% 162,304 100.00% Republican hold
District 12 - - 148,592 86.15% 23,894 13.85% 172,486 100.00% Republican hold
District 13 113,155 78.17% 31,596 21.83% - - 144,751 100.00% Democratic hold
District 14 115,949 60.73% 68,100 35.67% 6,884 3.61% 190,933 100.00% Democratic hold
District 15 77,096 59.28% 52,959 40.72% - - 130,055 100.00% Democratic hold
District 17 - - 112,595 83.16% 22,802 16.84% 135,397 100.00% Republican hold
District 18 61,345 29.57% 146,087 70.43% - - 207,432 100.00% Republican hold
District 19 61,327 52.14% 53,024 45.08% 3,269 2.78% 117,620 100.00% Democratic hold
District 22 - - 134,231 100.00% - - 134,231 100.00% Republican hold
District 25 - - 192,965 82.18% 41,857 17.82% 234,822 100.00% Republican hold
District 29 50,460 60.24% 33,303 39.76% - - 83,763 100.00% Democratic hold
Total 591,423 22.71% 1,839,653 70.65% 172,900 6.64% 2,603,976 100.00% Source:[1]

Notable races

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District 22: In March 2010, after winning the Republican primary for his seat, Senator Kip Averitt announced that he would step down from his seat in the Texas Senate.[2] This triggered a special election which took place on May 8, 2010. No candidate won 50% of the vote, so the top two vote winners advanced to a runoff held on June 22, 2010.[3] Averitt backed former state Senator David Sibley, but Brian Birdwell won the election.[4] As he had won the March primary, Averitt's name was still set to be on the ballot in November, but he withdrew his name shortly after Birdwell's victory.[5] As the incumbent Senator, Birdwell's name was placed on the ballot in Averitt's place, and he won the general election unopposed.

Texas's 22nd state senate district special election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican David Sibley 13,423 44.97%
Republican Brian Birdwell 10,900 36.51%
Democratic Gayle R. Avant 3,968 13.29%
Republican Darren Yancy 1,560 5.23%
Total votes 29,851 100.00%
Texas's 22nd state senate district special election runoff
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Brian Birdwell 14,218 57.90%
Republican David Sibley 10,339 42.10%
Total votes 24,557 100.00%
Republican hold

References

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  1. ^ a b "Office of the Secretary of State Race Summary Report 2010 General Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  2. ^ DEMOCRAT, Greg WebbWEATHERFORD. "Republican Sen. Kip Averitt to resign". Weatherford Democrat. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  3. ^ "Office of the Secretary of State Race Summary Report 2010 May Special Election". elections.sos.state.tx.us. May 8, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  4. ^ "Office of the Secretary of State Race Summary Report Special Runoff Election State Senate District 22". elections.sos.state.tx.us. June 22, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Reeve (June 23, 2010). "TribBlog: Averitt's Out". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 30, 2021.