Texas, Governor - Power Voter

Texas held an election for governor on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was December 11, 2017. Primary elections were held on March 6, 2018. A Democratic primary runoff followed on May 22, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting governor was Greg Abbott (R), who was first elected in 2014. On July 14, 2017, Abbott announced that he would seek re-election in 2018.
Heading into the election, Texas was a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since Republicans gained a majority in the Texas House of Representatives in 2003. Texas was also a Republican triplex.
Texas was won by the Republican candidate in each of the previous five presidential elections. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 23 percent margin in 2004 while the narrowest was Donald Trump's 9 percent margin in 2016.

Texas was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election.

Race rating

Race ratings: Texas gubernatorial election, 2018

Race tracker	Race ratings
	November 5, 2018	October 30, 2018	October 23, 2018	October 16, 2018
The Cook Political Report	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Texas from 2000 to 2016.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Texas every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Texas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	52.23%	Hillary Clinton	43.24%	8.99%
2012	Mitt Romney	57.17%	Barack Obama	41.38%	15.79%
2008	John McCain	55.45%	Barack Obama	43.68%	11.77%
2004	George W. Bush	61.09%	John Kerry	38.22%	22.87%
2000	George W. Bush	59.30%	Al Gore	37.98%	21.32%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Texas from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Texas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	John Cornyn	61.56%	David Alameel	34.36%	27.20%
2012	Ted Cruz	56.46%	Paul Sadler	40.62%	15.84%
2008	John Cornyn	54.82%	Richard Noriega	42.84%	11.98%
2006	Kay Bailey Hutchison	61.69%	Barbara Ann Radnofsky	36.04%	25.65%
2002	John Cornyn	55.30%	Ron Kirk	43.33%	11.97%
2000	Kay Bailey Hutchison	65.04%	Gene Kelly	32.35%	32.69%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2014

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2014. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Texas.

Election results (Governor), Texas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Greg Abbott	59.27%	Wendy Davis	38.90%	20.37%
2010	Rick Perry	54.97%	Bill White	42.30%	12.67%
2006	Rick Perry	39.03%	Chris Bell	29.79%	9.24%
2002	Rick Perry	57.81%	Tony Sanchez	39.96%	17.85%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Texas in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Texas 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	25	69.4%	11	30.6%	R+14
2014	25	69.4%	11	30.6%	R+14
2012	24	66.7%	12	33.3%	R+12
2010	23	71.9%	9	28.1%	R+14
2008	20	62.5%	12	37.5%	R+8
2006	19	59.4%	13	40.6%	R+6
2004	21	65.6%	11	34.4%	R+10
2002	15	46.9%	17	53.1%	D+2
2000	13	43.3%	17	56.7%	D+4

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Texas Party Control: 1992-2019
Three years of Democratic trifectas • 17 years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

Demographic data for Texas

	Texas	U.S.
Total population:	27,429,639	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	261,232	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.4%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	74.9%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11.9%	12.6%
Asian:	4.2%	5.1%
Native American:	0.5%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.5%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	38.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	81.9%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,207	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	19.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Texas.

As of July 2016, Texas had a population of approximately 27,862,596 people, and its three largest cities were Houston (pop. est. 2.3 million), San Antonio (pop. est. 1.5 million), and Dallas (pop. est. 1.3 million).