1992 Texas Senate election

Democrats had controlled the Texas Senate since the 1872 elections. They maintained their supermajority of 23 seats in the 1990 election, but they lost one seat soon after. Democratic Senator Chet Edwards resigned following his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. A special election was held in February 1991, which was won by Republican David Sibley, flipping the seat and reducing the Democratic supermajority to 22 seats.^[1]

Democrats had regained a full government trifecta following the election of Ann Richards to the governorship in 1990, giving them a substantial redistricting advantage following the 1990 census.^[2] The legislature drew maps for the Senate in its 1991 regular session, but federal courts struck them down as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders.^[3] Democrats then tried to pass a new set of maps for the courts to allow in a January 1992 special session, but the courts rejected the Senate map and imposed their own.^[4][5]

Democrats took issue with the presence of Judge James Robertson Nowlin on the panel. Nowlin was a former Republican state representative who had taken part in the controversial 1981 redistricting. Nowlin would later admit to being in contact with multiple Republican House members concerning the districts the courts were drawing. Democrats sought Nowlin's recusal from the case because of this, but the plans had already been enacted by the time this had occurred.^[6]

The court-imposed maps were seen as highly favorable to Republicans, and they believed they had the opportunity to win the chamber for the first time sine Reconstruction under them.^[7][8] Republicans made substantial gains, winning four seats from the Democrats, breaking their supermajority, but they failed to win control.^[9]