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16 of the 31 seats in theTexas Senate 16 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Senate results by district Democratic hold Republican hold No election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1976 Texas Senate elections took place as part of thebiennialUnited States elections. Texas voters elected state senators 16 of the 31State Senate districts. The winners of this election served in the65th Texas Legislature for four-year terms.
Democrats had controlled theTexas Senate since the1872 elections.[1] Long a part of theSolid South, Republicans had gained a foothold in the state in the past two decades, electing U.S. SenatorJohn Tower in1961 and electingRichard Nixon with 66% of the vote in1972, but these gains rarely made much impact in downballot, local races. Democrats had controlled every statewide office since the end ofReconstruction and controlled largesupermajorities in thelegislature. Even these small numbers were an improvement from the past two decades, however, such as after the 1964 election when they held a single seat in theHouse and none in the Senate.[2]
Although DemocratJimmy Carter only narrowly won the state in theconcurrent presidential election, Democrats held onto all of their seats in the Senate, maintaining their 28–3supermajority in the chamber.[3] Due to arecent constitutional amendment increasing theterm lengths of most statewide officers from two to four years, this was the first general election in 100 years not to feature them on the ballot.[4]
| District | Democratic | Republican | Write-in | Total | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
| District 4 | 90,791 | 100.00% | - | - | 0 | 0.00% | 90,791 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 5 | 105,158 | 99.97% | - | - | 36 | 0.03% | 105,194 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 7 | 75,902 | 56.15% | 56,923 | 43.85% | 0 | 0.00% | 129,825 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 8 | 39,352 | 32.45% | 81,911 | 67.55% | 5 | 0.00% | 121,268 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 9 | 77,510 | 60.59% | 50,399 | 39.40% | 8 | 0.01% | 127,917 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 13 | 57,862 | 30.32% | 132,982 | 69.68% | 0 | 0.00% | 190,844 | 100.00% | Republican hold |
| District 15 | 66,227 | 59.99% | 44,165 | 40.01% | 0 | 0.00% | 110,392 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 16 | 55,043 | 50.38% | 54,200 | 49.61% | 7 | 0.01% | 109,250 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 17 | 90,050 | 99.79% | - | - | 194 | 0.21% | 90,244 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 18 | 85,435 | 99.97% | - | - | 25 | 0.03% | 85,460 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 19 | 73,016 | 78.48% | 20,023 | 21.52% | 4 | 0.00% | 93,043 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 20 | 74,914 | 62.53% | 44,846 | 37.43% | 40 | 0.03% | 119,800 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 22 | 112,238 | 99.12% | - | - | 998 | 0.88% | 113,236 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 24 | 97,494 | 99.86% | - | - | 139 | 0.14% | 97,633 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 29 | 69,473 | 99.90% | - | - | 73 | 0.10% | 69,546 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| District 31 | 100,192 | 99.99% | - | - | 12 | 0.01% | 100,204 | 100.00% | Democratic hold |
| Total | 1,267,657 | 72.25% | 485,449 | 27.67% | 1,541 | 0.09% | 1,754,647 | 100.00% | Source:[5][6] |
