The Republicans currently control the chamber. With 1 vacant seat, there is currently a total of 18 Republicans and 12 Democrats making up the Senate.
The Senate is made up of 31 members, where each represents a single-member district across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 940,000 per constituency, based on the 2020 U.S. census. Texas Senate districts contain the second largest electorate per member for a legislature in the United States (slightly under the 988,000 per California State Senator). Elections are held in even-numbered years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Senators serve four year terms, with no term limits. Senators are divided into two groups based in part on the intervening Census:
In elections in years ending in "2" (the election after the Census), all 31 seats are up for election.
Once the Senate meets in session after said election, the Senators will participate in a drawing to determine their election cycle:
One-half will have a 2-4-4 cycle, whereupon the seat would stand for election after two years (the year ending in "4"), then again in four years (the year ending in "8"), then finally in another four years (coinciding with all seats standing for election in the year ending in "2").
The other half will have a 4-4-2 cycle, whereupon the seat would stand for election after four years (the year ending in "6"), then again in four years (the year ending in "0"), then finally in only two years (coinciding with all seats standing for election in the year ending in "2").
As such, every two years, almost half of the senate is up for election.
Leadership
The Lieutenant Governor of Texas serves as the President of the Senate. Unlike most lieutenant governors who are constitutionally designated as presiding officers of the upper house, the Lieutenant Governor regularly presides over the chamber rather than delegate this role to the President Pro Tempore. The Lieutenant Governor's duties include appointing chairs of committees, committee members, assigning and referring bills to specific committees, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. The Lieutenant Governor may also cast a vote should a Senate floor vote end in a tie. If the Senate votes to dissolve itself into the Committee of the Whole, in which all members are part of the Committee, the President Pro-Tempore presides over the proceedings, with the Lieutenant Governor acting as a regular voting member. Due to the various powers of committee selection and bill assignment, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas is considered one of the most powerful lieutenant governorships in the United States.
Unlike other state legislatures, the Texas Senate does not have official majority or minority leaders. Instead, the President Pro Tempore is considered the second most powerful position, regardless of party affiliation. Presidents Pro Tempore are usually the most senior members of the Senate. The President Pro Tempore presides when the Lieutenant Governor is not present or when the legislature is not in regular session.
The Lieutenant Governor appoints the members to the various standing committees. The exact number and size of these committees can change with any given session. In addition to the standing committees there can be issue specific special, joint, and interim committees.
The following represents the Senate standing committee structure for the 89th Legislature (numbers in parentheses are the number of committee members).
Administration (7)
Border Security (5)
Business and Commerce (11)
Criminal Justice (7)
Economic Development (5)
Education K-16 (11)
Finance (15)
Health & Human Services (8)
Jurisprudence (5)
Local Government (7)
Natural Resources (8)
Nominations (9)
State Affairs (11)
Transportation (9)
Veteran Affairs (7)
Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (9)
In addition to these committees, there are also six joint committees composed of members of both the State Senate and House:
The Senate was continuously held by Democrats from the end of the Reconstruction era until the Seventy-fifth Texas Legislature was seated in 1997, at which point Republicans took control. The Republican Party has maintained its control of the Senate since then.
↑This committees has six members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, and one Senator appointed by the Lieutenant Governor; the Committee in turn hires and oversees the State Auditor of Texas.
↑This committee has ten members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees, three Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and two Representatives appointed by the Speaker.
↑This committee has six members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor the Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, two Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and one Representative appointed by the Speaker.
↑This committee has 14 members: the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor (who serve as joint chairs), the Chair of the House Administration Committee, six Senators appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, and five Representatives appointed by the Speaker.
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