On November 8, 2022, thousands of Texan voters flooded voting locations in a desperate attempt to cast their votes. These voters knew that the voting deadline was 8 PM. After 8, election vote counters and machines counted the ballots. After a few tense hours, the results project dominant Republican victories throughout the state.
GOVERNOR
The Texas governor seat has not been held by a Democrat since 1995. Texas has experienced several tumultuous years. These years included the COVID-19 pandemic, deadly energy grid failures, abortion, and the Uvalde school shooting. Despite being outraised and confronting several issues, Governor Abbott campaigned relentlessly on border security and the current economic crisis. For instance, in order to gain support, Abbott ventured to South Texas and promised increased border security efforts.
On election day, 8 million Texan voters casted their ballots. Two hours after votes closed, Abbott prevailed with 4.4 million votes or 55% of total votes. This placed Democrat challenger Beto O’Rourke in second with 3.5 million votes or 43% of total votes and the rest to independent parties.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Along with Abbott’s victory, incumbent Dan Patrick sealed a solid victory over Democrat Mike Collier. This signals that Patrick will keep the conservative direction of the Texas Senate as its president. Patrick’s success could be attributed to his 131-stop bus tour across rural Texas, including the plan to reduce crime rates and reassure school vouchers going to public education. In the end, Patrick secured 4.3 million votes or 54%, an 11-point margin win over Collier. This margin was similar to that of the Abbott-Beto race.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Since 2015, incumbent attorney general (AG) Ken Paxton faced security fraud charges and is under FBI investigation. This occurred after eight of Paxton’s deputies accused their AG of abuse of power and attempts to overturn the 2020 elections. Immediately, Garza based her campaign of her attacks of Paxton and promise to permit abortion in Texas.
However, the Republican base stood steadfastly by Paxton by viewing him as a fighter. Paxton is described as a fighter for conservative social issues, opposition to COVID-19 mandates, and expansion of rights for LGBTQ people. In addition, Paxton outraised Garza, invested in numerous TV ads, and managed to pull more votes from South Texas and metropolitan areas than previous cycles.
In the end, Ken Paxton prevailed in the attorney general race over Rochelle Garza. Paxton secured 4.2 million votes or 54%, an 11-point margin over his Democrat challenger.
LAND COMMISSIONER
The land commissioner seat that manages 13 million acres of land and administers disaster and public school funds. In June 2021, then-land commissioner George P. Bush entered the Texas Attorney General Race to challenge incumbent Ken Paxton. Despite indicating Paxton’s attempts to overturn the 2020 elections, only 32% casted their support for Bush. This marked the end of a four-generational political dynasty and an opening for several candidates. Through numerous campaigning and funding, former state senator Dawn Buckingham secured a 14-point win over Democrat Jay Kleberg.
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER
In 2021, Winter Storm Uri left millions of Texans without power for days and hundreds dead. Consequently, the railroad commission came under heavy scrutiny after power executives blamed a shortage of natural gas for plant failures. After the storm, the commission approved a rule that will instruct natural gas companies to be operable at all costs in an energy crisis. After winning a runoff in May, incumbent Republican Wayne Christian stated his top three priorities. These priorities are to increase domestic production of oil, fight against the Biden administration’s “overreach,” and secure US energy independence. Despite being accused of mishandling the energy grid, Wayne Christian dominated the elections with a 14-point win.
AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER
Despite being pressed with several controversial remarks and recent crop losses, Sid Miller maintained his Republican base and popularity. Along with his signature hat, Miller enjoyed many endorsements and donations from Donald Trump, CPAC, etc. In the end, Miller secured 56% of the votes and attained his third term as agriculture commissioner.
COMPTROLLER
The comptroller is responsible for collecting taxes, overseeing the state treasury, and forecasting money available for the state’s two-year budget. Glenn Hegar has been keeping a low profile as comptroller for the past two years. However, in recent months, Hegar challenged “anti oil and gas” companies and threatened to budget sanctions over Harris County’s police funding. These moves indicate that Hegar attempted to remind voters that he is still a strong Republican. Possessing a popularity advantage, Hegar easily defeated his Democrat opponent by 1.2 million votes.
TEXAS HOUSE & SENATE
After several alterations, the Texas Senate and House approve a new congressional map. The map incorporates two additional House seats. These seats were formulated by Republicans to secure control over both chambers of the Texas Legislature. Also, Republicans were seeking to increase their influence in South Texas, a historically Democrat-based region. As a result, many Democrats accused the Republicans for diminishing the influence of black and Latino voters.
For the Texas House, 31 out of 150 representatives were up for reelection. Out of the 31 races, Republicans dominated in 25 of them. The rest went to the Democrats, including Colin Allred who maintained his seat with a major 30-point victory. As for the Texas Senate, all 31 seats were up for reelection. The reason was that the districts were redrawn in the new congressional map. In the end, the Republicans secured 19 out of 31 Senate seats.
SIGNIFICANCE
Overall, the elections prove that the Republicans will maintain their 28-year dominance of statewide races. Republicans have comfortably fended off Democrat attempts to unseat Abbott and destroyed their hopes to transform Texas into a swing state. In addition, Beto O’Rourke was handed his third defeat in politics with the first two coming from failed senate and presidential campaigns. Furthermore, the House and Senate indicate the increased support for Republicans in previously Democrat-dominated areas (e.g. South Texas). According to several political experts, Republicans could still count on rural voters to counter potential surges of Democrats moving into Dallas and Houston.
Despite advocating for high voter turnout, Democrats lost an advantage in South Texas due to a mediocre amount of support. In addition, even though gun violence and abortion restrictions have increased, Democrats failed to win statewide seats or gain majorities in the legislature. However, the Texas Democratic Party issued a joint statement indicating that they will continue to challenge Republican incumbents and gain more supporters in and out of state.
