1992 Texas Senate election
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All 31 seats in the Texas Senate 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Senate results by district Democratic hold Republican hold Republican gain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Texas |
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 Government |
The 1992 Texas Senate elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in all 31 State Senate districts due to redistricting. Originally, half of the seats were elected for two-year terms and the other half were elected for four-year terms, but subsequent redistricting forced all Senators to run for re-election again in 1994. The winners of this election served in the 73rd Texas Legislature.
Background
[edit]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]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Sibley | 28,757 | 53.21% | ||
| Democratic | Betty Denton | 25,283 | 46.79% | ||
| Total votes | 54,040 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican gain from Democratic | |||||
Redistricting
[edit]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]
Results
[edit]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]
Results by district
[edit]| District | Democratic | Republican | Libertarian | Total | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| District 1 | 93,937 | 47.87% | 102,310 | 52.13% | - | - | 196,247 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 2 | 96,746 | 40.08% | 129,228 | 53.54% | 15,384 | 6.37% | 241,358 | 100.00% | Republican gain |
| District 3 | 117,709 | 53.86% | 100,826 | 46.14% | - | - | 218,535 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 4 | 114,999 | 54.57% | 95,741 | 45.43% | - | - | 210,740 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 5 | 134,875 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 134,875 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 6 | 64,669 | 42.48% | 87,570 | 57.52% | - | - | 152,239 | 100.00% | Republican gain |
| District 7 | - | - | 178,850 | 89.09% | 21,910 | 10.91% | 200,760 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 8 | - | - | 169,173 | 82.66% | 35,483 | 17.34% | 204,656 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 9 | 73,759 | 39.44% | 113,246 | 60.56% | - | - | 187,005 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 10 | 83,711 | 38.64% | 132,947 | 61.36% | - | - | 216,658 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 11 | 92,702 | 46.24% | 98,671 | 49.21% | 9,121 | 4.55% | 200,494 | 100.00% | Republican gain |
| District 12 | 101,823 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 101,823 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 13 | 135,262 | 91.41% | - | - | 12,713 | 8.59% | 147,975 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 14 | 172,384 | 67.61% | 73,729 | 28.92% | 8,837 | 3.47% | 254,950 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 15 | 69,844 | 69.88% | 25,660 | 25.67% | 4,438 | 4.44% | 99,942 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 16 | - | - | 144,908 | 80.85% | 34,325 | 19.15% | 179,233 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 17 | 82,468 | 40.40% | 121,676 | 59.60% | - | - | 204,144 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 18 | 113,729 | 59.66% | 76,905 | 40.34% | - | - | 190,634 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 19 | 86,742 | 50.95% | 76,967 | 45.21% | 6,551 | 3.85% | 170,260 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 20 | 102,405 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 102,405 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 21 | 111,398 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 111,398 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 22 | 92,113 | 39.70% | 139,901 | 60.30% | - | - | 232,014 | 100.00% | Republican gain |
| District 23 | 110,856 | 89.46% | - | - | 13,066 | 10.54% | 123,922 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 24 | 110,534 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 110,534 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 25 | 98,763 | 51.74% | 92,107 | 48.26% | - | - | 190,870 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 26 | 73,303 | 33.40% | 146,159 | 66.60% | - | - | 219,462 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 27 | 80,961 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 80,961 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 28 | 111,384 | 64.36% | 57,119 | 33.00% | 4,572 | 2.64% | 173,075 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 29 | 98,461 | 100.00% | - | - | - | - | 98,461 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 30 | 100,079 | 50.73% | 97,180 | 49.27% | - | - | 197,259 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 31 | - | - | 139,302 | 100.00% | - | - | 139,302 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| Total | 2,725,616 | 51.50% | 2,400,175 | 45.35% | 166,400 | 3.14% | 5,292,191 | 100.00% | Source:[10] |
References
[edit]- ^ Senate Journal (PDF). March 5, 1991. pp. 329–330.
- ^ Kennedy, J. Michael (November 7, 1990). "Democrat Richards Wins Bitter Contest With Williams : Texas: The governor's race was the state's longest, most expensive and perhaps most rancorous. GOP oilman's verbal gaffes damaged his chances". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
- ^ "History". redistricting.capitol.texas.gov. Archived from the original on March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ "Justices reject Texas request to block redistricting by court". The Chicago Tribune. January 17, 1992. p. 4. ProQuest 283309390. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Schwartz, Maralee (January 17, 1992). "Texas Redistricting Rift". The Washington Post. p. a16. ProQuest 307500868. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Bickerstaff, Steve (2020). Heath, C. Robert (ed.). Gerrymandering Texas. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. pp. 122–125. ISBN 978-1-68283-073-4.
- ^ Suro, Roberto (January 17, 1992). "Texas G.O.P. Wins on Redistricting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
- ^ "Texas Democrats and Republicans Battle Over Redistricting". The Christian Science Monitor. February 4, 1992. ProQuest 291194035. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
- ^ Kingston, Mike (1993). Texas Almanac, 1994-1995. Dallas: The Dallas Morning News. p. 410. Archived from the original on March 17, 2023. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
- ^ "Race Summary Report - 1992 General Election". Texas Secretary of State.