2018 Texas Senate election

The 2018 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in 15 of the state senate's 31 districts. The winners of this election served in the 86th Texas Legislature. State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate. A statewide map of Texas's state Senate districts can be obtained from the Texas Legislative Council here, and individual district maps can be obtained from the U.S. Census here.

2018 Texas Senate election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →

15 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate
16 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Paul Bettencourt José R. Rodríguez
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat 7th 29th
Last election 20 11
Seats before 21 10
Seats won 19 12
Seat change Decrease2 Increase2
Popular vote 2,280,884 2,026,761
Percentage 52.14% 46.33%

     Republican hold      Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Democratic gain
     No election

Republican:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%

Democratic:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

A primary election on March 6, 2018, determined which candidates appeared on the November 6 general election ballot. Primary election results can be obtained from the Texas Secretary of State's website.[1]

Following the 2016 elections, Republicans maintained control of the Senate with 20 members. However, they gained an extra seat by flipping the 19th District in a September special election, giving them a 21-seat supermajority.[2]

To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats would have needed to net six Senate seats. The Democratic Party gained two seats, leaving the Republicans with a 19 to 12 majority in the chamber. Republicans maintained their supermajority, however, due to a 2015 rule change that reduced the effective vote threshold to pass legislation from 21 to 19.[3]

Summary of race results

edit
Summary of the November 6, 2018 Texas Senate election results
 
Party Candidates Votes Seats
No. % Before Up Won After +/–
Republican 14 2,280,884 52.14 21 12 10 19  2
Democratic 14 2,026,761 46.33 10 3 5 12  2
Libertarian 7 67,062 1.90 0 0 0 0  
Total 3,525,443 100.00 35 15 15 35  
Source:[4]
Popular vote
Republican
52.14%
Democratic
46.33%
Libertarian
1.90%
Senate seats won
Republican
66.67%
Democratic
33.33%

Retirements

edit

One incumbent did not run for re-election in 2018:

Republican

edit
  1. District 8: Van Taylor ran for Texas's 3rd congressional district.

Seats gained in preceding special elections

edit

Republicans

edit
  1. District 19: Pete Flores defeated Pete Gallego in a preceding special election on September 18, 2018, to flip this seat. The seat was vacated by Carlos Uresti, who resigned after multiple convictions on fraud and laundering charges.

Incumbents defeated

edit

In the primary election

edit

Republicans

edit
  1. District 30: Craig Estes lost to Pat Fallon.

In the general election

edit

Republicans

edit
  1. District 10: Konni Burton lost to Beverly Powell.
  2. District 16: Don Huffines lost to Nathan M. Johnson.

Close races

edit
District Winner Margin
District 8 Republican 2.36%
District 10 Democratic (flip) 3.04%
District 17 Republican 4.64%
District 9 Republican 8.06%
District 16 Democratic (flip) 8.26%

Summary of results by Senate District

edit

Race results:[4]

District Democratic Republican Libertarian Total Result
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
District 2 104,897 40.65% 153,151 59.35% - - 258,048 100.00% Republican hold
District 3 56,398 20.53% 215,058 78.27% 3,301 1.20% 274,757 100.00% Republican hold
District 5 136,792 41.47% 182,550 55.34% 10,500 3.18% 329,842 100.00% Republican hold
District 7 124,232 40.34% 177,864 57.75% 5,878 1.91% 307,974 100.00% Republican hold
District 8 162,157 48.82% 169,995 51.18% - - 332,152 100.00% Republican hold
District 9 112,537 45.97% 132,256 54.03% - - 244,793 100.00% Republican hold
District 10 148,959 51.73% 138,968 48.27% - - 287,927 100.00% D GAIN from R
District 14 276,052 71.93% 96,834 25.23% 10,889 2.84% 383,775 100.00% Democratic hold
District 15 153,016 65.18% 75,518 32.17% 6,229 2.65% 234,763 100.00% Democratic hold
District 16 159,228 54.13% 134,933 45.87% - - 294,161 100.00% D GAIN from R
District 17 143,978 46.80% 158,263 51.44% 5,396 1.75% 307,637 100.00% Republican hold
District 23 192,148 100.00% - - - - 192,148 100.00% Democratic hold
District 25 173,698 42.32% 236,753 57.68% - - 410,451 100.00% Republican hold
District 30 82,669 26.08% 234,374 73.92% - - 317,043 100.00% Republican hold
District 31 - - 174,367 87.52% 24,869 12.48% 199,236 100.00% Republican hold
Total 2,026,761 46.33% 2,280,884 52.14% 67,062 1.53% 4,374,707 100.00%

For districts not displayed, re-election is not scheduled until 2020.

Senate District incumbent Party Elected Senator Party
2nd Bob Hall Rep Bob Hall Rep
3rd Robert Nichols Rep Robert Nichols Rep
5th Charles Schwertner Rep Charles Schwertner Rep
7th Paul Bettencourt Rep Paul Bettencourt Rep
8th Van Taylor Rep Angela Paxton Rep
9th Kelly Hancock Rep Kelly Hancock Rep
10th Konni Burton Rep Beverly Powell Dem
14th Kirk Watson Dem Kirk Watson Dem
15th John Whitmire Dem John Whitmire Dem
16th Don Huffines Rep Nathan Johnson Dem
17th Joan Huffman Rep Joan Huffman Rep
19th (special) Vacant Dem Pete Flores Rep
23rd Royce West Dem Royce West Dem
25th Donna Campbell Rep Donna Campbell Rep
30th Craig Estes Rep Pat Fallon Rep
31st Kel Seliger Rep Kel Seliger Rep

Detailed results by Senate District

edit

District 2District 3District 5District 7District 8District 9District 10District 14District 15District 16District 17District 19District 23District 25District 30District 31

Sources:[5][1]

District 2

edit

Incumbent Republican Bob Hall ran for re-election. Hall, a member of the Tea Party movement, was challenged in the Republican primary by state representative Cindy Burkett, who ran as a moderate alternative to Hall.[6] Hall narrowly defeated Burkett in the primary and went on to defeat Democrat Kendall Scudder in the general election by a wide margin.[7]

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bob Hall (incumbent) 35,530 53.2
Republican Cindy Burkett 31,216 46.8
Total votes 66,746 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kendall Scudder 20,573 100.0
Total votes 20,573 100.0
Texas's 2nd State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bob Hall (incumbent) 153,151 59.35
Democratic Kendall Scudder 104,897 40.65
Total votes 258,048 100.0
Republican hold

District 3

edit

Incumbent Republican Robert Nichols won re-election.

Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Shirley Layton 12,452 100.0
Total votes 12,452 100.0
Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert Nichols (incumbent) 78,434 100.0
Total votes 78,434 100.0
Texas's 3rd State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Robert Nichols (incumbent) 215,058 78.27
Democratic Shirley Layton 56,398 20.53
Libertarian Bruce Quarles 3,301 1.20
Total votes 274,757 100.0
Republican hold

District 5

edit

Incumbent Republican Charles Schwertner won re-election.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles Schwertner (incumbent) 50,254 75.1
Republican Harold Ramm 16,648 24.9
Total votes 66,902 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Meg Walsh 22,605 71.1
Democratic Brian E. Cronin 5,383 16.9
Democratic Glenn "Grumpy" Williams 3,791 11.9
Total votes 31,779 100.0
Texas's 5th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles Schwertner (incumbent) 182,550 55.34
Democratic Meg Walsh 136,792 41.47
Libertarian Amy Lyons 10,500 3.18
Total votes 329,842 100.0
Republican hold

District 7

edit

Incumbent Republican Paul Bettencourt won re-election.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Bettencourt (incumbent) 44,950 100.0
Total votes 44,950 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Romero 22,989 100.0
Total votes 22,989 100.0
Texas's 7th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Bettencourt (incumbent) 177,864 57.75
Democratic David Romero 124,232 40.34
Libertarian Tom Glass 5,878 1.91
Total votes 307,974 100.0
Republican hold

District 8

edit
2018 Texas's 8th senate district election
 
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
     
Nominee Angela Paxton Mark Phariss
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 169,995 162,157
Percentage 51.18% 48.82%

 
Precinct results
Paxton:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Phariss:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

Texas Senator before election

Van Taylor
Republican Party

Elected Texas Senator

Angela Paxton
Republican Party

Incumbent Republican Van Taylor retired to run for Texas's 3rd congressional district, which was being vacated by incumbent Republican Sam Johnson.[8] Prior to Taylor's retirement announcement, businessman Phillip Huffines, the brother of senator Don Huffines, announced his bid for the seat on the assumption that Taylor would run for the House. Educator Angela Paxton, the wife of attorney general Ken Paxton, later joined the race. Both candidates ran highly negative campaigns, spending millions of dollars on advertisements on what would become the most expensive senate primaries in state history.[9][10] Paxton won the Republican primary while Mark Pharris, a plaintiff in the lawsuit to overturn Texas's ban on same-sex marriage, won the Democratic primary.[11] Paxton won the general election in the heavily Republican Collin County district.[12] This was the closest senate election in the state during the 2018 elections.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Angela Paxton 32,756 54.3
Republican Phillip Huffines 27,545 45.7
Total votes 60,301 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Mark Phariss 16,748 50.9
Democratic Brian Chaput 16,148 49.1
Total votes 32,896 100.0
Texas's 8th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Angela Paxton 169,995 51.18
Democratic Mark Phariss 162,157 48.82
Total votes 332,152 100.0
Republican hold

District 9

edit

Incumbent Republican Kelly Hancock won re-election.

Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gwenn Burud 21,382 100.0
Total votes 21,382 100.0
Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kelly Hancock (incumbent) 31,188 100.0
Total votes 31,188 100.0
Texas's 9th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kelly Hancock (incumbent) 132,256 54.03
Democratic Gwenn Burud 112,537 45.97
Total votes 244,793 100.0
Republican hold

District 10

edit
2018 Texas's 10th senate district election
 
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
     
Nominee Beverly Powell Konni Burton
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 148,959 138,968
Percentage 51.73% 48.27%

 
Precinct results
Powell:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Burton:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Tie:      50%
No vote:      

Texas Senator before election

Konni Burton
Republican Party

Elected Texas Senator

Beverly Powell
Democratic Party

Incumbent Republican Konni Burton ran for re-election. She was initially elected in 2014, flipping the seat after incumbent Democrat Wendy Davis retired to run for governor. Democrats Allison Campolo and Beverly Powell ran in the Democratic primary to challenge Burton, with Campolo running from the progressive wing of the Democratic party while Powell ran from the moderate wing of the party.[13] Powell advanced to the general election, which saw large spending from conservative groups such as Empower Texans to defend Burton's seat.[14] Powell narrowly defeated Burton in the general election, flipping the seat back to the Democrats.[15][16]

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Konni Burton (incumbent) 35,758 100.0
Total votes 35,758 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beverly Powell 23,148 61.6
Democratic Allison Campolo 14,432 38.4
Total votes 37,580 100.0
Texas's 10th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Beverly Powell 148,959 51.73
Republican Konni Burton (incumbent) 138,968 48.27
Total votes 287,927 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

District 14

edit

Incumbent Democrat Kirk Watson won re-election.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican George W. Hindman 24,168 100.0
Total votes 24,168 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kirk Watson (incumbent) 82,626 100.0
Total votes 82,626 100.0
Texas's 14th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kirk Watson (incumbent) 276,052 71.93
Republican George Hindman 96,834 25.23
Libertarian Micah Verlander 10,889 2.84
Total votes 383,775 100.0
Democratic hold

District 15

edit

Incumbent Democrat John Whitmire won re-election.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Randy Orr 17,057 100.0
Total votes 17,057 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Whitmire (incumbent) 27,307 74.9
Democratic Damian Lacroix 6,520 17.9
Democratic Hank Segelke 2,619 7.2
Total votes 36,446 100.0
Texas's 15th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Whitmire (incumbent) 153,016 65.18
Republican Randy Orr 75,518 32.17
Libertarian Gilberto Velsquez, Jr. 6,229 2.65
Total votes 234,763 100.0
Democratic hold

District 16

edit
2018 Texas's 16th senate district election
 
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
     
Nominee Nathan Johnson Don Huffines
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 159,228 134,933
Percentage 54.13% 45.87%

 
Precinct results
Johnson:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Huffines:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%
Tie:      50%
No vote:      

Texas Senator before election

Don Huffines
Republican Party

Elected Texas Senator

Nathan Johnson
Democratic Party

Incumbent Republican Don Huffines ran for re-election. Despite Republicans having held the 16th district for over 30 years, Huffines was seen as vulnerable due to the district's shifting demographics and Huffines' ultraconservative voting record. The district had voted for Hillary Clinton by 5 percentage points in 2016.[17][18] Nathan Johnson, the Democratic nominee, defeated Huffines in the general election.[15]

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Don Huffines (incumbent) 30,311 100.0
Total votes 30,311 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nathan Johnson 25,437 69.6
Democratic Joe Bogen 11,125 30.4
Total votes 36,562 100.0
Texas's 16th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nathan Johnson 159,228 54.13
Republican Don Huffines (incumbent) 134,933 45.87
Total votes 294,161 100.0
Democratic gain from Republican

District 17

edit
2018 Texas's 17th senate district election
 
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
     
Nominee Joan Huffman Rita Lucido
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 158,263 143,978
Percentage 51.44% 46.80%

 
Precinct results
Huffman:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Lucido:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Tie:      40–50%      50%
No vote:      

Texas Senator before election

Joan Huffman
Republican Party

Elected Texas Senator

Joan Huffman
Republican Party

Incumbent Republican Joan Huffman ran for re-election. Although she was considered potentially vulnerable due to Donald Trump's narrow victory in the district in 2016, she defeated Democrat Rita Lucido in the general election by 5 percentage points.[3][19]

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joan Huffman (incumbent) 36,830 72.7
Republican Kristin Tassin 13,849 27.3
Total votes 50,679 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rita Lucido 17,669 49.0
Democratic Fran Watson 12,663 35.1
Democratic Ahmad R. Hassan 5,757 15.9
Total votes 36,089 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Rita Lucido 10,533 57.8
Democratic Fran Watson 7,694 42.2
Total votes 18,227 100.0
Texas's 17th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Joan Huffman (incumbent) 158,263 51.44
Democratic Rita Lucido 143,978 46.80
Libertarian Lauren LaCount 5,396 1.75
Total votes 307,637 100.0
Republican hold

District 19 (special)

edit
2018 Texas's 19th senate district special election
 
← 2016 September 18, 2018 2020 →
     
Nominee Pete Flores Pete Gallego
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 25,330 19,367
Percentage 56.67% 43.33%

 
County results
Flores:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Gallego:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%

Texas Senator before election

vacant
Democratic Party

Elected Texas Senator

Pete Flores
Republican Party

Incumbent Democrat Carlos Uresti resigned after multiple convictions on fraud and laundering charges.[20] Former U.S. Representative Pete Gallego and Texas House representative Roland Gutierrez ran as Democrats against Republican Pete Flores in the special election. Flores placed first in the election, a boon to Republicans in the Democratic-leaning district, but he failed to win a majority of the vote, forcing him into a runoff with Gallego.[21] Despite stirrings of an upcoming Democratic wave election, Flores defeated Gallego in the runoff on September 18, 2018, to flip this seat, giving Republicans a supermajority of 21 seats in the Senate.[2]

Texas's 19th Senate District Special Election[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pete Flores 9,003 32.35
Democratic Pete Gallego 7,580 28.38
Democratic Roland Gutierrez 6,389 24.38
Republican Carlos Antonio Raymond 920 3.51
Democratic Tomas Uresti 799 3.05
Democratic Charlie Urbina Jones 789 3.01
Republican Jesse (Jay) Alaniz 461 1.76
Libertarian Tony Valdivia 266 1.01
Total votes 26,207 100.0
Texas's 19th Senate District Special Election Runoff [23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pete Flores 25,330 56.67
Democratic Pete Gallego 19,367 43.33
Total votes 44,697 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

District 23

edit

Incumbent Democrat Royce West won re-election unopposed.

Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Royce West (incumbent) 50,226 100.0
Total votes 50,226 100.0
Texas's 23rd State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Royce West (incumbent) 192,148 100.0
Total votes 192,148 100.0
Democratic hold

District 25

edit

Incumbent Republican Donna Campbell won re-election.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donna Campbell (incumbent) 59,143 73.7
Republican Shannon K. McClendon 21,055 26.3
Total votes 80,198 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Steven Kling 23,017 51.1
Democratic Jack Guerra 22,064 48.9
Total votes 45,081 100.0
Texas's 25th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Donna Campbell (incumbent) 236,753 57.68
Democratic Steven Kling 173,698 42.32
Total votes 410,451 100.0
Republican hold

District 30

edit

Incumbent Craig Estes, considered a centrist Republican, faced conservative state representative Pat Fallon in a primary race.[24][25] As the primary election approached, both campaigns grew increasingly combinative, including spars over an ad by Estes' campaign featuring Fallon in a Catholic confessional.[26] Polling on behalf of Fallon paid for by lieutenant governor Dan Patrick suggested that Patrick supported Fallon's primary challenge, although he made no official endorsement.[27] Fallon defeated Estes in the primary by a wide margin and went on to win the general election by an even larger margin.[28]

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pat Fallon 53,881 62.0
Republican Craig Estes (incumbent) 19,641 22.6
Republican Craig Carter 13,371 15.4
Total votes 86,893 100.0
Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kevin Lopez 15,760 100.0
Total votes 15,760 100.0
Texas's 30th State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Pat Fallon 234,374 73.92
Democratic Kevin Lopez 82,669 26.08
Total votes 317,043 100.0
Republican hold

District 31

edit

Incumbent Republican Kel Seliger ran for re-election. Seliger was considered vulnerable to a primary challenge due to his refusal to back many conservative bills during previous sessions. He narrowly won his primary in 2014, voted against a 20-week abortion ban, opposed school voucher legislation, and refused to endorse lieutenant governor Dan Patrick's re-election campaign. He drew two primary challengers, including Mike Canon, whom Seliger had narrowly defeated in 2014 and had the support of conservative groups such as Empower Texans.[29][30][31] Seliger won the primary, narrowly avoiding a runoff.[32] He faced nominal third-party opposition in the general election and easily won.

Republican primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kel Seliger (incumbent) 40,664 50.4
Republican Mike Canon 25,335 31.4
Republican Victor Leal 14,671 18.2
Total votes 80,670 100.0
Texas's 31st State Senate District General Election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kel Seliger (incumbent) 174,367 87.52
Libertarian Jack Westbrook 24,869 12.48
Total votes 199,236 100.0
Republican hold

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Svitek, Patrick (September 20, 2018). "How Texas Democrats lost a state Senate seat amid talk of a blue wave". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Samuels, Alex (November 7, 2018). "Democrats Nathan Johnson and Beverly Powell defeat state Sens. Don Huffines and Konni Burton in Texas midterm". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Race Summary Report - 2018 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "Texas State Senate elections, 2018". Ballotpedia. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  6. ^ Svitek, Patrick (September 5, 2017). "State Rep. Cindy Burkett challenging state Sen. Bob Hall in primary". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Leszcynski, Ray (March 7, 2018). "Sen. Bob Hall wins District 2 Republican primary, beats back challenge from four-term Rep. Cindy Burkett". Dallas News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Svitek, Patrick (August 23, 2017). "GOP state Sen. Van Taylor of Plano makes congressional run official". Texas Tribune. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  9. ^ Svitek, Patrick (March 5, 2018). "End is near in bruising, expensive Huffines-Paxton battle". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Connelly, Christopher (February 12, 2018). "Paxton, Huffines Spend Millions In GOP Bid For Texas' Only Open State Senate Seat". KERA News. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  11. ^ Wigglesworth, Valerie (March 7, 2018). "Paxton beats Huffines in bitter Republican primary race for Texas Senate District 8". Dallas News. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  12. ^ Ford, Holley (November 5, 2018). "Republican Angela Paxton Wins Over Democrat Mark Phariss for Texas District 8 Senate Seat". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Greene, Sydney (February 9, 2018). "In this Texas Democratic primary, the Clinton/Sanders divide still lingers". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  14. ^ Barragán, James (October 11, 2018). "West Texas oil, fracking billionaires pump $1M into D-FW legislative races to prop up GOP candidates". Dallas News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Leszcynski, Ray; Ayala, Eva-Marie (November 7, 2018). "Conservative stronghold in state Senate cracks as two North Texas incumbents defeated". Dallas News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  16. ^ Kuo, Stephanie (November 7, 2018). "A Democrat Takes Back A Tarrant County State Senate Seat". KERA News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Samuels, Alex (October 25, 2018). "In Dallas State Senate District Held By GOP For Decades, Don Huffines Is In A Tight Race". KERA News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  18. ^ Samuels, Alex (September 13, 2018). "With a supermajority, Republicans have complete control of the Texas Senate. That's at risk this election cycle". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  19. ^ Barajas, Michael (October 26, 2018). "To Chip Away at Dan Patrick's Power, Dems Need a Crashing Blue Wave in SD 17". The Texas Observer. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  20. ^ "Former state Sen. Carlos Uresti gets 12 years in prison in federal corruption case". Mysa. June 26, 2018.
  21. ^ Svitek, Patrick (July 31, 2018). "Republican Pete Flores, Democrat Pete Gallego set for runoff for Uresti seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  22. ^ https://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist330_state.htm [bare URL]
  23. ^ https://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist332_state.htm [bare URL]
  24. ^ Jones, Mark P. (December 19, 2017). "Upcoming battles in the ongoing Texas GOP civil war". TribTalk. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  25. ^ Svitek, Patrick (September 6, 2017). "State Rep. Pat Fallon says he's challenging state Sen. Craig Estes". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  26. ^ Choate, Trish (February 24, 2018). "'Confessions' ad latest controversy in heated Senate battle". Times Record News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  27. ^ Svitek, Patrick (February 7, 2018). "Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick spends $5.1M on TV ads in January, $17K on polling for Sen. Estes opponent". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Greene, Sydney; Formby, Brandon (March 7, 2018). "GOP state Sen. Craig Estes ousted; Sen. Bob Hall defeats Burkett". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  29. ^ Collins, Christopher (February 12, 2018). "The Far-Right is Staging an Ouster of Moderate Republicans in the Panhandle. Will Incumbents Outlast the Attack?". The Texas Observer. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  30. ^ STEIN, ROBERT. "State Sen. Kel Seliger opts not to back Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in re-election". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  31. ^ Stein, Robert (February 18, 2018). "The battle over State Senate District 31". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  32. ^ Root, Jay (March 7, 2018). "It was a bad election night for Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas' best-funded Tea Party group". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 8, 2024.