Texas Senate

Texas Senate
Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house of the Texas Legislature
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 10, 2023
Leadership
President	Dan Patrick (R) since January 20, 2015
President pro tempore	Charles Schwertner (R) since May 29, 2023
Majority Leader	Angela Paxton (R) since September 16, 2023
Minority Leader	Carol Alvarado (D) since January 8, 2020
Structure
Seats	31
Political groups	Majority   Republican (19) Minority   Democratic (11)   Vacant (1)
Length of term	4 years (with one 2-year term each decade)
Authority	Article 3, Texas Constitution
Salary	$7,200/year + per diem
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	November 8, 2022 (31 seats)
Next election	November 5, 2024 (15 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Texas State Capitol Austin, Texas
Website
Texas State Senate

The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, they compose the state legislature of the state of Texas.

There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 940,000 per constituency, based on the 2020 U.S. Census. Elections are held in even-numbered years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

There are no term limits. Terms are four years in length, with one two-year term each decade. 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 in two years (the year ending in 4), followed by two four-year cycles (the years ending in 8 and 2).
  • The other half will have a 4-4-2 cycle, whereupon the seat would stand for election in four years (the year ending in 6), followed by another four-year cycle (the year ending in 0) but then the seat would stand for election in only two years (the year ending in 2).

As such, every two years, about half of the Texas Senate is on the ballot.

The Senate meets at the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Republicans currently control the chamber, which is made up of 19 Republicans and 12 Democrats.