2024 Texas House of Representatives election

Republicans expanded their majority by one seat to an 86–64 margin in the 2022 elections, winning multiple competitive, heavily Hispanic, districts in South Texas, while Democrats performed better than expected in suburban areas.^[3]

During the regular session, the legislature expanded school armed security measures, banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities, and allowed school districts to hire or volunteer chaplains for mental health support for students.^[4][5][6] Near the end of the session, the House voted unanimously to expel Republican Bryan Slaton for having an improper relationship with an aide.^[7] Republican infighting led to the collapse of a school voucher bill during the regular session, but governor Greg Abbott vowed to call special sessions until it passed.^[8]

Efforts to legalize online sports betting and casino gambling found a resurgence in the House late in the session. Both proposals were supported by casino company owners and sports executives, such as Las Vegas Sands and Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson, as well as former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.^[9] Legislation to legalize either would have had to take the form of a constitutional amendment, requiring supermajority support in both legislative chambers, as well as approval from voters. The proposal to legalize online sports betting received 101 votes in the House, one above the supermajority threshold, but the bill to legalize casino gambling died without receiving a vote. Neither effort was expected to succeed in the Texas Senate due to opposition from Republican senators and lieutenant governor Dan Patrick.^[10][11]

On May 27, 2023, the House voted 121–23 to impeach attorney general Ken Paxton after a House committee found that he had used taxpayer funds to settle a legal dispute.^[12][13][14] The impeachment effort failed when the Texas Senate voted to acquit him of all charges in September 2023.^[15]

After the end of the regular session, Abbott called four special sessions to push for the voucher bill, but these efforts failed, bringing the effort to a final defeat in November 2023 when 21 Republicans voted with Democrats on an amendment to strip the voucher provisions from the House's education bill.^[17][18]

As a result of this infighting, multiple Republican incumbents found themselves having to defend against Paxton-endorsed candidates and pro-voucher candidates supported by governor Greg Abbott in the state house primaries.^[19][20]

In the 2020 presidential election in Texas, Republican Donald Trump won 85 State House districts, while Democrat Joe Biden won 65 districts.^[21] In the 2024 presidential election in Texas, Donald Trump won 11 more districts than he did in 2020 with 96, while Democrat Kamala Harris won 54 districts. In the aftermath of the 2024 election, Democrats now hold 8 districts in which Trump won with the closest being House district 40, a district that Trump won by 0.1%.

2020 Election results

Trump   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%

Biden   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%

2024 Election results

Trump   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%

Harris   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%

16 incumbents did not seek re-election.

Nine Republicans did not seek re-election.

• District 6: Matt Schaefer is retiring.^[22]
• District 12: Kyle Kacal is retiring.^[23]
• District 14: John N. Raney is retiring.^[24]
• District 29: Ed Thompson is retiring.^[25]
• District 30: Geanie Morrison is retiring.^[26]
• District 53: Andrew Murr is retiring.^[27]
• District 56: Charles Anderson resigned from his seat early in August 2024.^[28]
• District 87: Four Price is retiring.^[29]
• District 97: Craig Goldman is retiring to run for U.S. Representative.^[30]

Seven Democrats did not seek re-election.

• District 34: Abel Herrero is retiring.^[31]
• District 77: Evelina Ortega is retiring.^[32]
• District 80: Tracy King is retiring.^[33]
• District 107: Victoria Neave is retiring to run for State Senate.^[34]
• District 109: Carl O. Sherman is retiring to run for U.S. Senate.^[35]
• District 115: Julie Johnson is retiring to run for U.S. Representative.^[36]
• District 139: Jarvis Johnson is retiring to run for State Senate.^[37]

Nine incumbent representatives, all Republicans, were defeated in the March 5 primary election.^[38] Nine incumbents (eight Republicans, one Democrat) faced runoff elections.^[39]

• District 2: Jill Dutton lost renomination to Brent Money.
• District 11: Travis Clardy lost renomination to Joanne Shofner.
• District 18: Ernest Bailes lost renomination to Janis Holt.
• District 26: Jacey Jetton lost renomination to Matt Morgan.
• District 55: Hugh Shine lost renomination to Hillary Hickland.
• District 60: Glenn Rogers lost renomination to Mike Olcott.
• District 62: Reggie Smith lost renomination to Shelley Luther.
• District 65: Kronda Thimesch lost renomination to Mitch Little.
• District 121: Steve Allison lost renomination to Marc LaHood.

Six of eight Republicans forced into runoffs, as well as the one Democrat, were defeated.

• District 33: Justin Holland lost renomination to Katrina Pierson.
• District 44: John Kuempel lost renomination to Alan Schoolcraft.
• District 58: DeWayne Burns lost renomination to Helen Kerwin.
• District 61: Frederick Frazier lost renomination to Keresa Richardson.
• District 64: Lynn Stucky lost renomination to Andy Hopper.
• District 91: Stephanie Klick lost renomination to David Lowe.

• District 146: Shawn Thierry lost renomination to Lauren Ashley Simmons. Thierry later joined the Republican party.

2nd district special election runoff

← 2022 January 30, 2024 2024 →
Texas's 2nd House of Representatives district
Candidate Jill Dutton Brent Money Party Republican Republican Popular vote 6,836 6,726 Percentage 50.4% 49.6%
Results by county Dutton:      50–60% Money:      50–60%
Representative before election Bryan Slaton Republican Party Elected Representative Jill Dutton Republican Party

The special election to fill the seat of expelled representative Bryan Slaton was held on November 7, 2023, but no candidate received a majority of the vote, with Jill Dutton and Brent Money, both Republicans, advancing to the runoff.^[40][41] Dutton received support from Speaker Dade Phelan and former governor Rick Perry, while Money received support from governor Greg Abbott, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and attorney general Ken Paxton. Many saw the race as a preview for the intraparty battle over vouchers and Paxton's impeachment that was soon to take place in the March primary. Dutton narrowly won the runoff on January 30, 2024.^[42][43][44]

Dozens of Republican lawmakers faced primary challenges over votes on the impeachment of Ken Paxton and on school vouchers. Paxton and Abbott combined endorsed primary challengers for over half of all Republicans running for re-election.^[45] Former president Donald Trump additionally endorsed seven challengers to House incumbents, with the three men endorsing opposing candidates in several races, including multiple in Collin County.^[46][47] The primary garnered national attention due to its attempts to push the House in a more conservative direction and the high number of primary challengers, especially the challenge against incumbent speaker Dade Phelan.^[48][49]

Conservative challengers ousted a number of incumbent Republicans in the primary, including half of those targeted by Greg Abbott. Eight others were forced into May runoff elections, including Phelan. Paxton's challengers were less successful at defeating incumbents, especially when his endorsements conflicted with Abbott's. In total, Paxton endorsed 47 candidates for state house in primary elections, 25 of which lost, 22 ended up winning, and only 4 of which were incumbents.^[50] The results marked a significant increase in support for school vouchers among Republican legislators.^[51][52]

On the Democratic side, multiple incumbents announced their intention to run for higher office, setting up open primaries for their House seats.^[45] A small number of Democrats were targeted for primary challenges due to their votes with Republicans on LGBT rights and other issues.^[53][54]

Six of the eight Republican incumbents forced into runoffs were defeated. Three had Abbott-endorsed challengers due to their opposition to school vouchers, while the others had been targeted due to their vote on the Paxton impeachment. Only Gary VanDeaver, an opponent of vouchers, and incumbent speaker Dade Phelan survived their runoff elections. Abbott suggested that the results of the runoff ensure enough votes to pass vouchers in the next legislative session, although this assumed that Democrats would not gain any seats in the general election.^[55] Democrats, for their part, ousted representative Shawn Thierry in a runoff, targeting her due to her votes with Republicans on LGBT rights.^[56]

Commentators expected there to be few competitive seats in the general election. Each party won only one House district won by the opposing party's gubernatorial nominee during the 2022 elections.^[57] In the leadup to the general election, Republicans outraised Democrats in competitive races in South Texas, while Democrats outraised Republicans in competitive races in Dallas and San Antonio.^[58] Abbott had boasted 77 Republican candidates on the general election ballot who supported school voucher legislation in previous sessions or ousted anti-voucher incumbents, meaning Democrats would have needed a net gain of at least two seats from the 2022 election to continue to block vouchers.^[59]

Due to the size of the Republicans' majority and the low number of competitive seats, most analysts considered a change in control of the chamber to be unlikely.

Summary of the November 5, 2024 Texas House of Representatives election results

Party		Candidates	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	%
	Republican	112	5,707,863	56.34%	88	1	58.67%
	Democratic	127	4,362,814	43.07%	62	1	41.33%
	Libertarian	7	52,575	0.52%	0	–	0%
	Independent	1	4,478	0.04%	0	–	0%
	Write-in	5	2,509	0.02%	0	–	0%
Total		252	10,130,239	100.00%	150	–

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

† - Incumbent not seeking re-election
٭ - Incumbent lost re-nomination

Despite narrowly defeating his primary election challenger, incumbent speaker Dade Phelan faced significant hurdles in retaining his position. Phelan gained his first challenger, Tom Oliverson, in March after nine incumbent Republicans lost renomination, and he gained a second, Shelby Slawson, in May after six more Republicans lost primary runoff elections. A primary issue for both candidates was their opposition to Phelan's continuation of the longstanding tradition of appointing members of the minority party as committee chairs. Nearly 50 House Republicans had pledged to vote against any speaker candidate who would continue this tradition, all but dooming Phelan's chances at winning the Republican nomination.^[65]

By September, five Republicans had announced bids for the speakership against Phelan.^[66] On September 20, 48 house Republicans who opposed Phelan unanimously chose David Cook of the 96th district as the reformer-endorsed candidate in the next speakership election.^[67][68] Phelan was expected to seek support from Democrats in order to remain as speaker, but ultimately opted out of seeking a third term as speaker.^[69][70] Dustin Burrows of the 83rd district, an ally of Phelan, sought the speakership relying on the support of Democratic representatives and Republicans who defeated primary challengers.^[71] On January 14, 2025, Burrows was elected Texas House Speaker after 49 Democrats joined 36 Republicans to back him in the second round of voting, defeating Cook by a vote of 85 to 55.^[72]