The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to helping you navigate Texas policy and politics — including the 2022 elections. Here are the election results of the Texas 2022 midterms on Nov. 8.
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What you should know:
- Gov. Greg Abbott prevailed after a tumultuous period that included the pandemic, a statewide blackout, restrictions on voting and abortion and the Uvalde school shooting. His challenger, Beto O’Rourke, was the Texas Democratic Party’s great hope but he has lost three races in four years.
- U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, has won a 10th term in the U.S. House. Another Democratic member of Congress, Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, defeated U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, a Republican who won a June special election. And Monica De La Cruz became the first Republican to win in the 15th Congressional District.
- Statewide Republican officials prevailed, including Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.
- Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo won a tight race for reelection despite GOP donors spending millions to unseat her.
- Turnout for early voting in this midterm election reached 31%, about 7 percentage points below what it was in 2018. This may be due to voter apathy.
- Here’s how ballot counting works in Texas and to ensure free and fair elections.
- Texas has new political maps. See which districts your home is in.
How to read these results
or I independent candidates in some races.
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Governor
The governor is the chief executive of Texas. The seat has not been held by a Democrat since 1995. Republican Greg Abbott won a third term against Democrat Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, a former U.S. representative with statewide name recognition because of his 2018 U.S. Senate and 2020 presidential runs.
Attorney General
The attorney general is the top lawyer in Texas, representing the state in mostly civil litigation. Despite his tenure clouded by a high-profile securities fraud indictment and an FBI investigation into claims of malfeasance, Ken Paxton won reelection against Democratic challenger Rochelle Garza, a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union from the Rio Grande Valley.
Lieutenant Governor
The lieutenant governor, the second-highest executive in the state, presides over the state Senate. For the second time since 2018, Republican incumbent Dan Patrick won against Democratic nominee Mike Collier.
Land Commissioner
The land commissioner oversees an agency that manages 13 million acres of state land, administers disaster recovery funds, contributes to public school funding and has administrative control of the Alamo. Republican Dawn Buckingham won the open seat against Democrat Jay Kleberg.
Railroad Commissioner
In Texas, the Railroad Commission regulates the oil and gas industry. Members of the three-person board are elected statewide, and one seat was up for election in 2022. Republican incumbent Wayne Christian won reelection against Luke Warford, a former Texas Democratic Party staffer.
Agriculture Commissioner
The agriculture commissioner oversees programs to financially assist farmers, ranchers, rural hospitals and school lunch programs. Sid Miller won a third term against Democratic challenger Susan Hays.
Comptroller
The comptroller is the state official responsible for collecting taxes, overseeing the state treasury and forecasting the amount of money that’s available for the state’s two-year budget. Republican Glenn Hegar won a third term against Democratic challenger Janet Dudding, an accountant.
U.S. House Texas delegation
Texas’ new 38-district congressional map incorporates two new House seats, which the state gained due to its explosive growth over the last decade. U.S. representatives serve two-year terms, and 31 sitting members ran again this year.
State Board of Education
There are 15 districts within the State Board of Education, which oversees the curriculum taught in Texas public schools . Every seat was on the ballot this year because the districts were redrawn last year. Five seats are now held by Democrats and ten by Republicans, widening their majority.
Texas Supreme Court
The Texas Supreme Court, the state’s highest civil court, has nine justices. Three of the nine seats on the Supreme Court were up for election in 2022. Justices are elected statewide, and Republicans will continue to hold all the seats.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is the state’s highest criminal court. The nine members are elected statewide and will continue to be all Republicans. Three seats were up for election this year, with one of them uncontested.
Texas Senate
Every seat in the 31-member Texas Senate was on the ballot because the districts were redrawn last year.
Texas House
There are 150 members of the Texas House. Each state representative serves a two-year term. This election took place under a new map drawn by legislators.
What we are seeing
Turnout for early voting in this midterm election reached 31%, about 7 percentage points below what it was in 2018. This may be due to voter apathy.
Domestic mail-in ballots turned in and postmarked by election day were counted if they arrived no later than 5 p.m. Nov. 9. Mail-in ballots from military and overseas voters had to be postmarked by Election Day and arrive no later than Nov. 14. In close races, mail-in votes and provisional ballots helped determine the winner, delaying the calling of those races. The certification of final election results was completed by all the counties on Nov. 21 and released by the secretary of state on Nov. 28.
The Texas Tribune’s election data was provided by Decision Desk HQ, which gathered information from the secretary of state’s office and a representative sample of 50 counties. Decision Desk called winners and provided estimates as to how many votes were left to be counted. The estimates of votes left to be counted changed throughout election night.
About the data
Election results data provided by Decision Desk HQ.
Candidate information from the Texas secretary of state’s office, the Texas Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Texas, the Libertarian Party of Texas, the Green Party of Texas and Texas Tribune research.
County shapes and city locations provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Road lines provided by Natural Earth.
Contributions by Emily Albracht, Yuriko Schumacher, Darla Cameron and AmyJo Brown.
Disclosure: The Texas secretary of state, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Terry Canales, Senfronia Thompson, Brooks Landgraf, Vikki Goodwin and Todd Hunter have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.