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Elections were held inTexas on November 4, 2014. All of Texas's executive officers were up for election as well as aUnited States Senate seat, and all of Texas's thirty-six seats in theUnited States House of Representatives.Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Primary runoffs, required if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on May 27, 2014. Elections were also held for the Texas legislature and proposition 1, seeking funds for Texas highways (which passed).
A combination of retirements, incumbents seeking other offices and a primary defeat means that after the election, for the first timesince 1874, all of Texas's executive offices were held by new officeholders.
TheTea Party made large gains in the 2014 elections, with Tea Party-backed candidates being elected into offices such aslieutenant governor andattorney general, among other offices.[1][2][3]
IncumbentRepublicanGovernorRick Perry, who has served in the office since December 21, 2000, whenGeorge W. Bush resigned ahead of being sworn in asPresident of the United States, has announced that he will not run for a fourth full term as governor. This will be the first open election for governorsince 1990, whenAnn Richards was elected.
Greg Abbott won the Republican primary,Wendy Davis won theDemocratic primary.Kathie Glass won the Libertarian Party of Texas nomination in convention. They and a Green candidate will contest the general election.
Abbott won the general election, defeating Davis by twenty points.
Incumbent Lieutenant GovernorDavid Dewhurst ran for an unprecedented fourth term, but was defeated in the Republican primary by his more conservative opponent, state senator Dan Patrick. Patrick would go on to win the general election in a landslide overLeticia Van de Putte. Patrick was sworn in on January 20, 2015.
IncumbentRepublican Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott was eligible to seek re-election to a fourth term, but instead decided torun for governor. Republican state senatorKen Paxton defeatedDemocratic attorney Sam Houston with 58.81% of the vote.
Incumbent RepublicanComptrollerSusan Combs retired and did not seek a third term in office.
Declared
Declined
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Glenn Hegar | Harvey Hilderbran | Debra Medina | Raul Torres | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UoT/Texas Tribune[9] | February 7–17, 2014 | 461 | ±4.56% | 24% | 26% | 39% | 11% | — | — |
| UoT/Texas Tribune[10] | October 18–27, 2013 | 519 | ±5.02% | 4% | 2% | 14% | 5% | — | 75% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Glenn Hegar | 612,269 | 49.99 | |
| Republican | Harvey Hilderbran | 318,899 | 26.04 | |
| Republican | Debra Medina | 236,531 | 19.31 | |
| Republican | Raul Torres | 56,937 | 4.64 | |
| Total votes | 1,224,636 | 100 | ||
A runoff was to be held, but with Hegar only narrowly below the 50% threshold and with several thousand provisional and overseas ballots to be counted, Hildebran withdrew on March 7, 2014, and endorsed Hegar.[12] When the final results were released, Hegar had come only 50 votes short of winning the primary outright.
Declared
Declared
Declared
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Glenn Hegar (R) | Mike Collier (D) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UoT/Texas Tribune[15] | October 10–19, 2014 | 866 | ± 3.6% | 49% | 34% | 17%[16] | — |
| UoT/Texas Tribune[17] | May 30–June 8, 2014 | 1,200 | ± 2.83% | 32% | 25% | 7%[18] | 37% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Glenn Hegar | 2,692,803 | 58.36 | |
| Democratic | Mike Collier | 1,739,308 | 37.69 | |
| Libertarian | Ben Sanders | 136,969 | 2.96 | |
| Green | Deb Shafto | 44,924 | 0.97 | |
| Majority | 953,495 | 20.67% | ||
| Total votes | 4,614,004 | 100 | ||
| Turnout | 32.89 | |||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Incumbent Republican CommissionerJerry E. Patterson did not run for re-election to a fourth term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.
Declared
Declined
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George P. Bush | 937,987 | 72.99 | |
| Republican | David Watts | 346,949 | 27.00 | |
| Total votes | 1,284,936 | 100 | ||
Declared
Declared
Withdrew
Knight won the Libertarian nomination
Declared
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | George P. Bush (R) | John Cook (D) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UoT/Texas Tribune[15] | October 10–19, 2014 | 866 | ± 3.6% | 50% | 32% | 17%[25] | — |
| UoT/Texas Tribune[17] | May 30–June 8, 2014 | 1,200 | ± 2.83% | 36% | 25% | 9%[26] | 30% |
| Public Policy Polling[27] | April 10–13, 2014 | 559 | ± 4.1% | 50% | 32% | — | 18% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George P. Bush | 2,821,359 | 60.68 | |
| Democratic | John Cook | 1,641,858 | 35.31 | |
| Libertarian | Justin Knight | 126,203 | 2.71 | |
| Green | Valerie Alessi | 59,992 | 1.29 | |
| Majority | 1,179,501 | 25.37% | ||
| Total votes | 4,649,412 | 100 | ||
| Turnout | 33.14 | |||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Incumbent RepublicanCommissionerTodd Staples did not run for re-election to a third term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor. On September 18, he announced that he would resign within the next two months, to become President of theTexas Oil and Gas Association.[28]
Declared
Withdrew
Declined
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sid Miller | 411,560 | 34.56 | |
| Republican | Tommy Merritt | 249,440 | 20.94 | |
| Republican | Eric Opiela | 207,222 | 17.40 | |
| Republican | Joe Cotten | 174,348 | 14.64 | |
| Republican | J. Allen Carnes | 148,222 | 12.44 | |
| Total votes | 1,190,792 | 100 | ||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sid Miller | 362,573 | 53.08 | |
| Republican | Tommy Merritt | 320,434 | 46.92 | |
| Total votes | 683,007 | 100 | ||
Declared
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Hogan | 190,090 | 38.74 | |
| Democratic | Kinky Friedman | 185,180 | 37.74 | |
| Democratic | Hugh Fitzsimons | 115,395 | 23.51 | |
| Total votes | 490,665 | 100 | ||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jim Hogan | 105,763 | 53.71 | |
| Democratic | Kinky Friedman | 91,154 | 46.29 | |
| Total votes | 196,917 | 100 | ||
Declared
Palmquist won the Libertarian nomination.
Declared
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Sid Miller (R) | Jim Hogan (D) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UoT/Texas Tribune[15] | October 10–19, 2014 | 866 | ± 3.6% | 47% | 35% | 18%[40] | — |
| UoT/Texas Tribune[17] | May 30–June 8, 2014 | 1,200 | ± 2.83% | 32% | 24% | 9%[41] | 34% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Sid Miller | 2,693,466 | 58.58 | |
| Democratic | Jim Hogan | 1,694,059 | 36.84 | |
| Libertarian | David "Rocky" Palmquist | 132,299 | 2.87 | |
| Green | Kenneth Kendrick | 77,416 | 1.68 | |
| Majority | 999,407 | 21.74% | ||
| Total votes | 4,597,240 | 100 | ||
| Turnout | 32.77 | |||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Incumbent RepublicanCommissionerBarry Smitherman did not run for re-election to a full term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for attorney general.
Declared
Withdrew
Declined
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Wayne Christian | 503,634 | 42.68 | |
| Republican | Ryan Sitton | 360,125 | 30.52 | |
| Republican | Becky Berger | 198,672 | 16.83 | |
| Republican | Malachi Boyuls | 117,511 | 9.95 | |
| Total votes | 1,179,942 | 100 | ||
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ryan Sitton | 398,652 | 57.25 | |
| Republican | Wayne Christian | 297,654 | 42.75 | |
| Total votes | 696,306 | 100 | ||
Declared
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Steve Brown | 299,009 | 64.02 | |
| Democratic | Dale Henry | 168,036 | 35.97 | |
| Total votes | 467,045 | 100 | ||
Declared
Miller won the Libertarian nomination.
Declared
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Ryan Sitton (R) | Steve Brown (D) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UoT/Texas Tribune[15] | October 10–19, 2014 | 866 | ± 3.6% | 48% | 34% | 19%[50] | — |
| UoT/Texas Tribune[17] | May 30–June 8, 2014 | 1,200 | ± 2.83% | 32% | 24% | 10%[51] | 33% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ryan Sitton | 2,679,537 | 58.27 | |
| Democratic | Steve Brown | 1,679,658 | 36.52 | |
| Libertarian | Mark Miller | 145,127 | 3.15 | |
| Green | Kenneth Kendrick | 93,988 | 2.04 | |
| Majority | 999,879 | 21.74% | ||
| Total votes | 4,598,310 | 100 | ||
| Turnout | 32.78 | |||
| Republicanhold | ||||
Every seat in theTexas House of Representatives and about half of the seats in theTexas Senate were up for election.
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Democratic | Vacant | ||
| Before 2014 elections | 95 | 55 | 150 | 0 |
| Voting share | 63% | 37% | ||
| After 2014 elections | 98 | 52 | 150 | 0 |
| Voting share | 65% | 35% | ||
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Democratic | Vacant | ||
| Before 2014 elections | 19 | 12 | 31 | 0 |
| Voting share | 61% | 39% | ||
| After 2014 elections | 20 | 11 | 31 | 0 |
| Voting share | 65% | 35% | ||
Incumbent Republican senator andSenate Minority WhipJohn Cornyn ran for re-election to a third term.[52] He won the Republican primary with 59% of the vote, easily turning back a primary challenge from U.S. RepresentativeSteve Stockman and six others. The Democratic primary went to a runoff after businessman David Alameel took 47% of the vote andWorldwide LaRouche Youth Movement activistKesha Rogers took 22% of the vote. Alameel won the runoff.
In the general election, Cornyn defeated Alameel 61.6%–34.4%.[53]
All of Texas's thirty-six seats in theUnited States House of Representatives were up for election in 2014.
