The House has more than 20 members who are leaving, while the Senate has five.
By Philip Jankowski and Aarón Torres
Staff Writers
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
AUSTIN — Amid retirements and aspirations for higher office, many seats in the Texas Legislature are open for the taking in the 2026 primaries as a significant number of seats in both chambers will have no incumbent.
Both the state House and Senate have numerous seats that will see new members as candidate filing closed Monday and dozens of senators’ and representatives’ impending departures from the Legislature became official.
Perhaps the most significant vacancy will be that of District 21 state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, the former speaker. Despite serving as speaker in the 2021 and 2023 legislative sessions, Phelan had to drop his bid to lead the chamber prior to the 2025 session following a push by the GOP’s most conservative members to elect someone viewed as more conservative and more aligned with Trump.
Phelan had served his southeast Texas district since 2015.
The Texas House will see significant turnover as 21 members of the lower chamber decided to either retire or seek higher office.
On the Democratic side, some of the party’s most high-profile members are leaving to seek higher office.
Reps. Vikki Goodwin, Gina Hinojosa and James Talarico, all of whom represent Austin-area districts, are hoping to pull off upsets as they challenge major Republican incumbents. Goodwin is running for lieutenant governor and Hinojosa is running for governor.
Talarico, meanwhile, is running for U.S. Senate in a Democratic primary that also features Dallas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.
In North Texas, GOP Reps. Tony Tinderholt and Nate Schatzline, among the most conservative members in the chamber, decided to step away. Tinderholt is running for the Tarrant County Commissioners Court in a newly redrawn district.
Three Republican candidates are running for Tinderholt’s seat. Among them is Cheryl Bean, who ran for a different Texas House seat in 2024 — the one currently held by Rep. John McQueeney of Fort Worth — but lost in the GOP primary runoff.
Schatzline, meanwhile, decided not to seek reelection after he accepted a position with a national faith-based outreach coalition. Two Republicans filed to replace Schatzline: Alan Blaylock, a member of the Fort Worth City Council, and Steve Sprowls, a Northwest ISD trustee. Ericka Lomick is the sole Democrat to file.
No Democrat who represents a North Texas district announced they would not seek reelection.
Looking ahead to the 2026 elections, Democrats will likely try to flip the last two Dallas County statehouse seats held by Republicans. GOP Reps. Morgan Meyer of University Park and Angie Chen Button of Garland have defeated their Democratic challengers in recent general elections. Both are running for reelection.
The Democrat seeking to challenge Meyer will be Allison Mitchell, a business owner. Zach Herbert, an attorney, is challenging Button.
The state Senate
In the Senate, five Republican Senators are not seeking reelection. Three are retiring while two others have resigned after being appointed to state government positions — Brandon Creighton as chancellor of the Texas Tech University System and Kelly Hancock as acting Texas comptroller.
