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Texas, State Senate, District 17

Texas State Senate District 17
Current incumbentJoan Huffman Republican Party
Population804,162
Race49.2% White, 35.8% Black/Hispanic, 15.0% Other
Ethnicity77.5% Not Hispanic, 22.5% Hispanic
Voting age75.3% age 18 and over

Texas' seventeenth state senate district is represented by Republican Senator Joan Huffman.

As of the 2010 census, a total of 804,162 civilians reside within Texas' seventeenth state senate district. Texas state senators represent an average of 811,147 residents. After the 2000 Census, each member represented 672,640 residents.

About the office

Members of the Texas State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. One-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years in even-numbered years, with the exception that all 31 Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts. After the initial election, the Senate is divided by lot into two classes, with one class having a re-election after two years and the other having a re-election after four years. Texas legislators assume office at the beginning of the legislative session (January).

Qualifications

To be eligible to serve in the Texas State Senate, a candidate must be:

  • A U.S. citizen
  • 26 years old before the general election
  • A five-year resident of Texas before the general election
  • A district resident for 1 year prior to the general election

Salaries

State legislators
SalaryPer diem
$7,200/year$190/day. Set by the ethics commission.

Pension

When calculating a legislators' pension, their normal salary is artificially inflated to $125,000. This goes back to 1981, when lawmakers linked their salaries to those of state judges. Since then, they raised judges' salaries while removing the caps on their own pensions, pushing the maximum benefit up to 100% of a judge's salary.

In 2011, this resulted in an average state employee pension of $17,526 annually. The maximum pension a legislator can earn is $125,000, of which Rep. Tom Craddick (R) will be the first to qualify for when he retires. .

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the senate, the Governor must call a special election to fill the vacant seat. A Governor's proclamation to a special election must be delivered to local elections authorities representing the vacant seat no later than 36 days before the scheduled election.

The Secretary of State can declare a candidate duly elected in a special election if there is no opposition.

Elections

2020

Elections for the office of Texas State Senate will take place in 2020. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. A primary is scheduled for March 3, 2020, and a primary runoff is scheduled for May 26, 2020. The filing deadline was December 9, 2019.

2018

General election
General election for Texas State Senate District 17

Incumbent Joan Huffman (R) defeated Rita Lucido (D) and Lauren LaCount (L) 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

Total votes: 307,637
Primary runoff election
Democratic primary runoff for Texas State Senate District 17

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

Candidate
%
Votes

Rita Lucido (D)
57.8
10,476

Fran Watson (D)
42.2
7,659

Total votes: 18,135
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas State Senate District 17

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

Candidate
%
Votes

Rita Lucido (D)
48.9
17,603

Fran Watson (D)
35.1
12,621

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Ahmad Hassan (D)
16.0
5,739

Total votes: 35,963
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17

Incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Kristin Tassin in the Republican primary for Texas State Senate District 17 on March 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes

Joan Huffman (R)
72.6
36,668

Kristin Tassin (R)
27.4
13,808

Total votes: 50,476

2014

Elections for 15 of the 31 seats in the Texas State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Rita Lucido was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbent Joan Huffman defeated Derek Anthony in the Republican primary. George Hardy was running as a Libertarian candidate, and David 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.

Texas State Senate, District 17 General Election, 2014

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJoan Huffman Incumbent 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

Elections for the office of Texas State Senate consisted of a primary election on May 29, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Joan Huffman (R) defeated Austin Page (L) and David Courtney (G) in the general election. Huffman was unopposed in the Republican primary election. In 2012, a total of $218,990 was raised in campaign contributions. Huffman raised $209,716, Page raised $5,700, and Courtney raised $3,574.

Texas State Senate, District 17, General Election, 2012

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJoan Huffman Incumbent 77.7% 185,429
Libertarian Austin Page 13.4% 32,026
Green David Courtney 8.9% 21,252
Total Votes 238,707

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2014, candidates for Texas State Senate District 17 raised a total of $4,603,084. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $306,872 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money.

Campaign contributions, Texas State Senate District 17

Year Amount Candidates Average
2014 $947,884 5 $189,577
2012 $218,990 3 $72,997
2010 $538,164 1 $538,164
2008 $14,678 1 $14,678
2006 $829,398 1 $829,398
2004 $483,794 1 $483,794
2002 $1,570,176 3 $523,392
Total $4,603,084 15 $306,872