Joan Huffman

Republican Party

Candidate, Attorney General of Texas

Texas State Senate District 17

Tenure

2009 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

17

Compensation

Base salary

$7,200/year

Per diem

$221/day

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Next election

March 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Louisiana State University

Law

South Texas School of Law

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Campaign Instagram

Joan Huffman (Republican Party) is a member of theTexas State Senate, representingDistrict 17. She assumed office in 2009. Her current term ends on January 9, 2029.

Huffman (Republican Party) is running for election forAttorney General of Texas. She is on the ballot in the Republican primary onMarch 3, 2026.^[source]

Biography

Huffman graduated with a B.A. from Louisiana State University and later graduated with a J.D. from the South Texas School of Law.

In addition to being a senator, Huffman is an attorney and has served as lead prosecutor in over 100 jury trials. Those trials include murders, sexual assaults and aggravated robberies.^[1]

2026 battleground election

See also:Texas Attorney General election, 2026 (March 3 Republican primary)

Ballotpedia identified the March 3, 2026, Republican primary for Texas Attorney General as abattleground election. The summary below is from our coverage of this election,found here.

Joan Huffman (R),Mayes Middleton (R),Aaron Reitz (R), andChip Roy (R) are running in the Republican primary election for Texas Attorney General on March 3, 2026.

IncumbentKen Paxton (R) is running in theRepublican primary for U.S. Senate in Texas in 2026.

The Texas Tribune's Gabby Birenbaum and Eleanor Klibanoff wrote that "[as] the biggest attorney general's office in a red state, Texas' top lawyer serves an outsized role in the conservative legal movement."^[2] Birenbaum also said the race will likely be characterized by candidates "position[ing] themselves as the ideological heirs to Paxton’s conservative legal movement, which has put Texas at the forefront of high-profile cases on religious liberty, abortion and election law."^[3]

Huffman was elected to theTexas State Senate in 2008. She previously worked as a prosecutor and a judge.^[4] Huffman is campaigning on her legal experience, saying she has worked to "[uphold] the rule of law and [protect] our families."^[4] She is also campaigning on her support of law enforcement and public safety, highlighting legislation she wrote that increased penalties for violent crimes, targeted drug trafficking, and funded border security.^[4] The Houston Police Officers Union and Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association endorsed Huffman.^[5]

Middleton was elected to the stateSenate in 2023 and served in theTexas House of Representatives from 2019 to 2023. He is an attorney and president of an oil company.^[6] Middleton is campaigning on his support for PresidentDonald Trump’s (R) agenda, calling himself "a steadfast ally of President Trump and a proven champion of the America First movement."^[6] Middleton says he would focus on public safety and would “fight to secure the border, ensure law and order, and be tough on crime."^[7] U.S. Rep.Randy Weber (R-Texas) endorsed Middleton.^[8]

Reitz is an attorney who served as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy in the U.S. Department of Justice from March to June 2025, and he previously served as Texas’ Deputy Attorney General for Legal Strategy under Paxton.^[9][10] Reitz is campaigning on his support of Paxton, saying, "Under Ken Paxton, Texas has been a shining example for the conservative movement on how to fight and win against the enemies of Law, Order, and Liberty."^[3] He is also campaigning on his support of and connection to Trump, saying he would "ensure the full weight of the Office of the Attorney General is behind President Trump and his agenda," and noting that Trump called him "a true MAGA attorney."^[11][12] Paxton endorsed Reitz.^[3]

Roy was elected to theU.S. House in 2019. He previously served as Texas’ First Assistant Attorney General under Paxton.^[13] Roy is campaigning on his support of Paxton’s legal approach, saying, "[Paxton] and his team have done a great job fighting to defend Texas … We’re going to continue that legacy going forward."^[2] Highlighting his legislative career, Roy says he has experience with border security, supporting law enforcement, and combating election fraud.^[14] U.S. Sen.Ted Cruz (R-Texas) endorsed Roy.^[3]

Elections

2026

See also: Texas Attorney General election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on March 3, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Texas

Tony Box (D),Joe Jaworski (D), andNathan Johnson (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Texas on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Tony Box
		Joe Jaworski
		Nathan Johnson

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Attorney General of Texas

Joan Huffman (R),Mayes Middleton (R),Aaron Reitz (R), andChip Roy (R) are running in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Texas on March 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Joan Huffman
		Mayes Middleton
		Aaron Reitz
		Chip Roy

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Polls

See also:Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and havemargins of error orcredibility intervals.^[15] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."^[16] For tips on reading polls fromFiveThirtyEight,click here. For tips from Pew,click here.

Below we provide results for polls froma wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing?Click here to let us know.

Election campaign finance

Candidate spending

The tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available byTransparency USA. Transparency USA tracks loans separately from total contributions. View each candidates’ loan totals, if any, by clicking “View More” in the table below and learn more about this datahere.

Satellite spending

See also:Satellite spending

Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees,super PACs, trade associations, and501(c)(4)nonprofit groups.^[17][18][19]

If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add,email us.

Endorsements

2024

See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman defeatedKathy Cheng in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman (R)	64.2	238,328
		Kathy Cheng (D)	35.8	133,127

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 371,455
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17

Kathy Cheng advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kathy Cheng	100.0	21,812

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,812
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman	100.0	70,144

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 70,144
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

Endorsements

2022

See also: Texas State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman defeatedTitus Benton in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman (R)	65.3	179,653
		Titus Benton (D)	34.7	95,320

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 274,973
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17

Titus Benton defeatedMiguel Gonzalez in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Titus Benton	51.2	11,958
	Submit photo	Miguel Gonzalez	48.8	11,393

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,351
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman advanced from the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 1, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman	100.0	58,841

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 58,841
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

2018

See also:Texas State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman defeatedRita Lucido andLauren LaCount in the general election for Texas State Senate District 17 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman (R)	51.4	158,263
		Rita Lucido (D)	46.8	143,978
		Lauren LaCount (L)	1.8	5,396

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 307,637
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Senate District 17

Rita Lucido defeatedFran Watson in the Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Senate District 17 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rita Lucido	57.8	10,476
		Fran Watson	42.2	7,659

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 18,135
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17

Rita Lucido andFran Watson advanced to a runoff. They defeatedAhmad Hassan in the Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rita Lucido	48.9	17,603
✔		Fran Watson	35.1	12,621
		Ahmad Hassan	16.0	5,739

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 35,963
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17

IncumbentJoan Huffman defeatedKristin Tassin in the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Huffman	72.6	36,668
		Kristin Tassin	27.4	13,808

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 50,476
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Overview of 2018 Republican primaries

See also:Factions in Texas state legislative Republican primaries, 2018 andTexas state legislative Republican primaries, 2018

The 2018 Texas state legislative Republican primaries featured conflict between two factions. One group was opposed to House SpeakerJoe Straus (R) and his preferred policies on issues like education financing and property taxes. The anti-Straus wing included members of theTexas Freedom Caucus and organizations such asEmpower Texans and Texas Right to Life. The other group was supportive of Straus and his policy priorities. The pro-Straus wing included incumbent legislators allied with Straus and organizations such as the Associated Republicans of Texas and the Texas Association of Business. To learn more about these factions and the conflict between them, visit ourpage on factional conflict among Texas Republicans.

The primaries occurred on March 6, 2018, with runoffs on May 22, 2018. There were 48 contested state legislative Republican primaries, outnumbering contested primaries in 2016 (43) and 2014 (44). To see our full coverage of the state legislative Republican primaries, including who key influencers were backing and what the primaries meant for the 2019 House speaker's race, visit ourprimary coverage page.

The charts below outline the March 6 primary races for the state Senate and the state House. They show how the factions performed on election night.

2014

See also:Texas State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for 15 of the 31 seats in theTexas State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013.Rita Lucido was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbentJoan Huffman defeatedDerek Anthony in the Republican primary.George Hardy was running as a Libertarian candidate, andDavid Courtney was running as a Green Party candidate.Phil Kurtz filed but did not advance past the Libertarian convention. Huffman defeated Lucido, Hardy and Courtney in the 2014 general election.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Texas State Senate, District 17 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Joan HuffmanIncumbent	63.3%	113,817
	Democratic	Rita Lucido	33.9%	60,934
	Libertarian	George Hardy	2%	3,642
	Green	David Courtney	0.7%	1,303
Total Votes				179,696

2012

See also:Texas State Senate elections, 2012

Huffman won re-election in the2012 election forTexas State Senate, District 17. Huffman ran unopposed in the May 29 primary election and won re-election in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[24]

Texas State Senate, District 17, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Joan HuffmanIncumbent	77.7%	185,429
	Libertarian	Austin Page	13.4%	32,026
	Green	David Courtney	8.9%	21,252
Total Votes				238,707

2010

See also:Texas State Senate elections, 2010

Huffman won re-election to the 17th District Seat in 2010, defeating Libertarian candidatePhil Kurtz in the general election on November 6, 2012.^[24]

Texas State Senate, District 17 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Joan Huffman (R)		112,595	83.15%
Phil Kurtz (L)		22,802	16.84%

2008

On Dec. 16, 2008, Huffman won a special election runoff for the 17th District Seat in theTexas State Senate, defeating opponent Chris Bell.^[24]

Texas State Senate, District 17 (2008)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Joan Huffman (R)		24,497	56.09%
Chris Bell		19,176	43.90%

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Joan Huffman has not yet completedBallotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.Send a message to Joan Huffman asking her to fill out the survey. If you are Joan Huffman,click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?

Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for.  More than 25,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the surveyhere.

You can ask Joan Huffman to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing senatorjoanhuffman@gmail.com.

Campaign ads

Ballotpedia did not come across any campaign ads for Joan Huffman while conducting research on this election. If you are aware of any ads that should be included, pleaseemail us.

2024

Joan Huffman did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Joan Huffman did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Huffman was assigned to the following committees:

• Committee of the Whole Senate
• Criminal Justice Committee
• Finance Committee,Chair
• Special Committee on Redistricting,Chair

2021-2022

Huffman was assigned to the following committees:

• Administration Committee
• Criminal Justice Committee,Vice chair
• Finance Committee
• Jurisprudence Committee,Chair

2019-2020

Huffman was assigned to the following committees:

• Administration Committee
• Criminal Justice Committee,Vice-Chair
• Finance Committee
• Senate State Affairs Committee,Chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Huffman served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Huffman served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Huffman served on the followingTexas Senate committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Huffman served on the followingTexas Senate committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Texas

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

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Footnotes

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