2026 Midterm Election Recap
The 2026 midterm elections took place on Tuesday Nov. 3. Democrats won every statewide office on the Texas ballot as 9.8 million voters cast a ballot. The turnout rate (51.6%) was the third-highest for a Texas midterm since 1970, behind 1970 (53.9%) and 2018 (53.0%).
Gina Hinojosa, defeated three-term Gov. Greg Abbott, and Vikki Goodwin defeated three-term Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. James Talerico defeated former Attorney General Ken Paxton for the open U.S. Senate seat.
Nathan Johnson defeated Mayes Middleton for attorney general, Sarah Eckhardt defeated Comptroller Don Huffines, Benjamin Flores will serve as commissioner of the General Land Office after defeating Dawn Buckingham, Clayton Tucker defeated Nate Sheets for agriculture commissioner, and Rep. Jon Rosenthal defeated Bo French for railroad commissioner.
In the Texas House of Representatives, Democrats are projected to take over as the majority party after securing 83 seats to 67 Republican seats. A majority in the 150-member Texas House requires 76 representatives. Twenty-one seats flipped from Republican to Democrat, 16 incumbents lost, and an estimated 41 new House members will join the House in January.
As with any House election cycle, some members jockey to lead the chamber as speaker of the House. A few members filed to run for speaker, which is selected by the body at the start of the session. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, who has held office since 1973, announced on Friday among a gathering of representatives from both sides of the aisle that she has enough pledges of support to be the next speaker.
In the Texas Senate, 16 seats were up for reelection, and Republicans maintained a 19-12 majority. There will be five new members, three of whom are former House members: former school board trustee Trent Ashby, Dennis Paul, and David Cook. The other new members include Brett Ligon and Taylor Rehmet. Two special elections will be required to fill the now vacant seats of Sarah Eckhardt and Nathan Johnson.
Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa, in a press conference on Nov. 5, shared that she is currently interviewing candidates to serve as the next commissioner of education. Commissioner Mike Morath's current term expires Jan. 10 and, under state law, the governor appoints a commissioner who must be confirmed by the Texas Senate.
Comptroller-elect Sarah Eckhardt has stated she will conduct an audit of the Texas Education Freedom Account program and is asking the governor to appoint her prior to January so that she may begin work.
While the numbers are not final until canvassing, the majority of local school bond and tax rate elections failed. It is estimated that $6.3 billion of bond proposals totaling $7.36 billion across the state and 16 of 20 voter approval tax rate elections failed.
The makeup of the Texas State Board of Education has shifted from 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats to 8 Democrats and 7 Republicans. There will be 7 new members on SBOE and Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa may appoint a new SBOE chair, who must be confirmed by the Senate. The current SBOE board meets Nov. 16–20 and new members will be sworn in at the Jan. 25-29 meeting.
The results of this election will yield significant shifts in the governing structure of the state, and specifically for public education. New House and Senate leaders will result in restructured committees and committee assignments, and a new TEA commissioner and new SBOE members will impact accountability rules, how interventions are applied, charter approvals, curriculum and instructional materials and much more.
Additionally, with an estimated 46 new members of the Texas House and Senate out of 181 total legislators, it will be more important than ever for school leaders to reach out to new and returning legislators to provide support on education issues and to offer to serve as a reliable contact on school issues at the state and local levels.
There may not be reliable contact information available for incoming legislators on the state website yet, but interested trustees may be able to find contact information on social media or on candidate campaign websites. If you have any questions, please reach out to TASB Governmental Relations at 800-580-4885 or tasbgr@tasb.org.
