2018 Texas Senate election

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

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

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.

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

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

Race results:^[4]

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

Sources:^[5][1]

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]

Incumbent Republican Robert Nichols won re-election.

Incumbent Republican Charles Schwertner won re-election.

Incumbent Republican Paul Bettencourt won re-election.

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.

Incumbent Republican Kelly Hancock won re-election.

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]

Incumbent Democrat Kirk Watson won re-election.

Incumbent Democrat John Whitmire won re-election.

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]

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]

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]

Incumbent Democrat Royce West won re-election unopposed.

Incumbent Republican Donna Campbell won re-election.

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]

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.

• United States elections, 2018
• United States Senate election in Texas, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections in Texas, 2018
• Texas gubernatorial election, 2018
• 2018 Texas House of Representatives election
• Texas elections, 2018