Election night came and went, and we woke up in a brand-new Texas. There were winners and there were losers. However, we are all winners now that the political texts, emails, and ads will mercifully end. What does the new political environment mean for prosecutors? No one knows yet. We will give a legislative preview presentation at the Elected Prosecutor Conference next month, where we will offer our best hypothesis for the issues that will likely pop up during session. For now, let’s look at the elections we were monitoring and the new landscape at the Capitol.
Elections
Here are the outcomes from the races we were watching on Election Night:
Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
Ashley Foster (Republican)
Luz Elena Chapa (Democrat) WINNER
Jason Wolff (Independent)
Brazoria County Criminal District Attorney
Tom Selleck (Republican) WINNER
Bianca Santorini (Democrat)
Fort Bend County District Attorney
Shawn McDonald (Republican)
Brian Middleton (Democrat) WINNER
Harris County Attorney
Jacqueline Lucci Smith (Republican)
Abbie Kamin (Democrat) WINNER
Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney
Lydia Elizondo (Republican)
Terry Palacios (Democrat) WINNER
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney
Phil Sorrells (Republican)
Tiffany Burks (Democrat) WINNER
Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice
Jimmy Blacklock (Incumbent/Appointed Chief/Republican)
Maggie Ellis (Democrat) WINNER
Place 2
James P. Sullivan (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Chari L. Kelly (Democrat) WINNER
Place 7
Kyle D. Hawkins (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Kristen Hawkins (Democrat) WINNER
Place 8
J. Brett Busby (Incumbent Republican)
Gisela D. Triana (Democrat) WINNER
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Place 3
Thomas Smith (Republican runoff winner)
Okey Anyiam (Democrat) WINNER
Place 4
Kevin Yeary (Incumbent Republican)
Audra Riley (Democrat) WINNER
Place 9 (pending)
John Messinger (Republican)
Holly Taylor (Democrat) WINNER
Texas Legislature
The change in Texas politics was seismic, and that includes the Texas Legislature. The official vote counting is not yet finished, but it looks like the Texas House will be controlled by the Democrats for the first time since 2002. The current makeup of the Texas House is 62 Democrats and 88 Republicans, but now Democrats will hold 83 seats and Republicans will hold 67 seats when the legislative session begins. This means there will be a new House Speaker, so you can expect another campaign by House members to secure that final leadership position, which will be decided in January.
The Texas Senate remained in Republican control with a projected 19–12 majority, the same as the current split, even with Democratic State Rep. Vicki Goodman (D-Austin) elected as Lieutenant Governor. In the past, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick appointed all the committees and their chairs, directed bills to the committees of his choosing, and controlled the flow of debate on the Senate floor. However, the Senate can decide its own rules, including who appoints committees and how many votes it requires to bring a bill to the Senate floor. All this will get decided when the 90th Legislature convenes in Austin in January. Until then, no one truly knows what the next Texas Senate will look like or how it will conduct business. Special elections need to be called for the seats of state Senators Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) and Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin), who won the statewide offices of attorney general and comptroller on election night.
Now that the election is over, the winners can start to pre-file bills for next session starting on Monday, November 9. There are several bill drafts waiting for that first day of prefiling that probably seemed like an easy lift to get across the finish line, but now they may be dead on arrival. There are also several ideas for bills that might have been pre-filed by legislators who knew they would never become law—but now they could be at play in this new world!
What does all this mean for the changes in law you want to see? The split government means that bills have a completely different route to passing into law than in past sessions, and we can provide you guidance if asked. However, we can do that only if you let us know what bills you are working on and with whom. The other piece of advice is to get to know your newly elected legislators. It is best to do that now while they still have time on their calendars before the legislative session begins. We will talk more about how to be successful in this new environment during our Legislative Preview presentation at the Elected Prosecutor Conference in College Station.
Elected Prosecutor Conference—December 2026
Speaking of the Elected Prosecutor Conference, this year’s event will include sessions on productive public engagement, responsible AI adoption, and resources for prosecutors in crisis. Please click that link for more details. Our Annual Business Meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference, and that is where you get to elect TDCAA’s new Board members for 2027. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at the Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center. Again, click the links for more details, and don’t forget that we’ll have a special Legislative Preview that Friday at 8:00 a.m. for those interested!
Quotes
“If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO [Republican in Name Only] in the last six months of his political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!”
—President Donald Trump posting late on election night on Truth Social hours after reiterating his endorsement for Governor Abbott.
“I blame this on Greg Abbott. I blame it on Dan Patrick. I blame it all on our leadership. Thinking they’re going to go for four terms as Governor. Four terms as Lt. Governor. Seriously? If they campaigned on lowering your property taxes, all that did is remind everybody why you didn’t do it 12 years ago.”
—Don Huffines, Texas Comptroller (and a Republican who previously tried to primary Gov. Abbott), speaking after the election results, where he lost to Democrat Sarah Eckhardt.