2012 Texas Senate election
November 6, 2012
All 31 seats in the Texas State Senate
16 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Republican Democratic Libertarian
Last election 19 seats, 70.65%[1] 12 seats, 22.71%[1] 0 seats, 6.61%[1]
Seats before 19 12 0
Seats won 19 12 0
Seat change Steady Steady Steady
Popular vote 4,327,863 2,272,085 355,249
Percentage 62.65% 32.76% 5.12%
Swing Decrease 8.00% Increase 10.05% Decrease 1.49%
Election Results
     Republican hold
     Democratic hold
President Pro Tempore before election


Republican

 Elected President Pro Tempore


Republican

The 2012 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in all 31 State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the 83rd Texas Legislature, with seats apportioned among the 2010 United States census.

Background

The Republican Party had held the Senate since the 1996 elections. Most observers, as well as the national parties, viewed Texas as a safe red state, as Republican candidates had swept statewide elections since 1998. Republicans reached a new zenith after the 2010 elections, when backlash to the presidency of Barack Obama kept the Senate firmly in their control and led to a record number of victories in the House of Representatives.[2] As the first election after the 2010 United States Census, all Senate districts had to be redrawn to account for population changes over the preceding decade. Typically, State senators serve four-year terms in the Texas State Senate; however, all Senate seats come up for election in the cycle after decennial redistricting. Due to this, senators elected in 2008 served only two-year terms, and half of the senators elected in this election served two-year terms, coming up for re-election again in 2014. To claim control of the chamber from Republicans, the Democrats needed to gain four seats.

Challenges to Republican-drawn Senate map

Republicans had sole control over redistricting the state's U.S. House delegation and both state legislative chambers for the 2012 elections. The 10th Senate District, the most-altered in the body, belonged to Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth), whose seat was drawn to add more Republican voters from greater Tarrant County while placing voters from Democratic areas out of the district. However, the proposed Senate map for 2012 was challenged under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and in U.S. District Court for racial gerrymandering. The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas ruled with the plaintiffs and proposed its own example map, undoing the racial gerrymander in Senate District 10, and ordered the legislature to draw a new map based on its own. Ultimately, this election used boundaries made with input from both the Court and Republican legislators.[3][4][5]

Results

Republicans heavily invested in winning the 10th district, which was the only competitive district in the state. The race became one of the most expensive legislative races in the 2012 election cycle. Republicans ultimately failed to unseat Davis, however, and every other seat in the state remained safely with their respective parties, maintaining the balance of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the Senate.[6][7][8]

Statewide

Summary of the November 6, 2012 Texas Senate election results
Party Candidates Votes Seats
No.  % Before Up Won After +/–
Republican 27 4,275,676 61.65% 19 19 19 19 Steady
Democratic 18 2,272,085 32.76% 12 12 12 12 Steady
Libertarian 12 355,249 5.12% 0 0 0 0 Steady
Green 2 31,840 0.46% 0 0 0 0 Steady
Write-in 1 966 0.00% 0 0 0 0 Steady
Total 6,987,503 100.00% 31 15 15 31 Steady
Source:[9]
Popular vote
Republican
 
 61.65%
Democratic
 
 32.76%
Libertarian
 
 5.12%
Green
 
 0.46%
Write-in
 
 0.00%
Senate seats won
Republican
 
 61.29%
Democratic
 
 38.71%

Close races

District Winner Margin
District 10 Democratic 2.24%

Results by district

District Democratic Republican Others Total Result
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
District 1 84,262 28.63% 210,091 71.37% - - 294,353 100.00% Republican hold
District 2 - - 172,451 100.00% - - 172,451 100.00% Republican hold
District 3 - - 226,978 100.00% - - 226,978 100.00% Republican hold
District 4 - - 216,076 86.25% 34,445 13.75% 250,521 100.00% Republican hold
District 5 - - 182,554 77.14% 54,107 22.86% 236,661 100.00% Republican hold
District 6 93,289 70.95% 38,201 29.05% - - 131,490 100.00% Democratic hold
District 7 90,793 31.60% 196,526 68.40% - - 287,319 100.00% Republican hold
District 8 99,101 34.60% 178,238 62.29% 8,899 3.11% 286,147 100.00% Republican hold
District 9 89,255 38.21% 136,288 58.35% 8,034 3.44% 233,577 100.00% Republican hold
District 10 147,103 51.12% 140,656 48.88% - - 287,759 100.00% Democratic hold
District 11 93,227 33.98% 181,106 66.02% - - 274,333 100.00% Republican hold
District 12 - - 203,988 83.41% 40,570 16.59% 244,558 100.00% Republican hold
District 13 181,866 100.00% - - - - 181,866 100.00% Democratic hold
District 14 212,527 80.29% - - 52,187 19.71% 264,714 100.00% Democratic hold
District 15 135,822 62.34% 82,038 37.66% - - 217,860 100.00% Democratic hold
District 16 - - 181,746 100.00% - - 181,746 100.00% Republican hold
District 17 - - 185,429 77.68% 53,278 22.32% 238,707 100.00% Republican hold
District 18 - - 211,230 100.00% - - 211,230 100.00% Republican hold
District 19 122,214 59.40% 83,522 40.60% - - 205,736 100.00% Democratic hold
District 20 112,629 61.53% 70,409 38.47% - - 183,038 100.00% Democratic hold
District 21 129,894 67.63% 56,032 29.17% 6,147 3.20% 192,073 100.00% Democratic hold
District 22 - - 188,544 85.57% 31,786 14.43% 220,330 100.00% Republican hold
District 23 187,407 81.90% 41,429 18.10% - - 228,836 100.00% Democratic hold
District 24 - - 209,319 100.00% - - 209,319 100.00% Republican hold
District 25 121,906 34.42% 232,261 65.58% - - 354,167 100.00% Republican hold
District 26 141,040 80.33% - - 34,043 19.67% 175,583 100.00% Democratic hold
District 27 113,542 100.00% - - - - 113,542 100.00% Democratic hold
District 28 - - 183,619 86.39% 28,932 13.61% 212,551 100.00% Republican hold
District 29 116,208 68.60% 53,190 31.40% - - 169,398 100.00% Democratic hold
District 30 - - 217,877 86.12% 35,127 13.88% 253,004 100.00% Republican hold
District 31 - - 195,878 100.00% - - 195,878 100.00% Republican hold
Total2,272,08532.76%4,275,67661.65%387,5555.59%6,935,316100.00%Source:[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Race Summary Report - 2010 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  2. ↑ Brown, Brandi Grissom, Reeve Hamilton, Elise Hu, Ross Ramsey, Emily Ramshaw, Morgan Smith, Matt Stiles, Julián Aguilar, David Muto, Kate Galbraith, Becca Aaronson, Julie Chang, Tristan Hallman and Emily (November 3, 2010). "Red November". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 7, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Ramsey, Ross; Murphy, Ryan (November 17, 2011). "Federal Judges Propose Map for Texas Legislative Districts". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  4. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (February 28, 2012). "Court Delivers Maps for Texas House, Congress". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
  5. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (August 28, 2012). "Court: Texas Redistricting Maps Don't Protect Minority Voters". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Wendy Davis narrowly defeats Mark Shelton in state Senate District 10". Dallas News. November 7, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Ramshaw, Emily (November 7, 2012). "Wendy Davis Clinches Re-election in SD-10". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. ↑ Ramsey, Ross (November 26, 2012). "Texas Democrats Gained, if Only a Little, in 2012". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Race Summary Report - 2012 General Election". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
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