Rather than accept the House legislation as is, senators passed their own — more expansive — proposals for border security. But unless the House convenes again, the bills can’t go to the governor’s desk.

In the 2023 legislative session that convened Tuesday, 70% of lawmakers are men. More than half of the Senate and House members are white, and nearly half are white men.

State Senate District 24 will be getting a new Senator: Kathy Jones-Hospod vs. Pete Flores.

High-profile and potentially competitive races to watch on election night

Early voting results will be released at 7 p.m. CST on Nov. 8, 2022. Scroll within the result embeds to see all races.

Reyes faces Pete Flores in the May 24 Republican primary runoff for the open state Senate seat. Flores is backed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Almost all the preferred candidates of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan nabbed enough votes to head into the November general election. And nearly all sitting House and Senate members seeking to return to the Texas Capitol kept their seats.

The fast-growing region likely will see a considerable number of new state and federal lawmakers after the 2022 election. And in many cases, they will be representing districts whose boundaries have significantly shifted.

Within hours, Flores got the endorsement of Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway, who is vacating the seat to run for land commissioner, and then Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate.

The Texas Senate gallery is mostly empty due to social distancing at the Capitol on Tuesday. (Credit: Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved a fundamental alteration of its rules, ending the minority party’s ability to block legislation it unanimously opposes in the Republican-controlled upper chamber. In a 18-13 vote, lawmakers voted to lower the threshold of support that legislation needs to make it onto the Senate floor. In past sessions, the Senate required a two-thirds supermajority, or 19 votes, to bring legislation to the floor. The gravity of the change was reflected in an unusual scene on the Senate floor: Nearly all 31 senators were in their seats, rapt, as the chamber debated.

Right now, Senate rules require 19 members, or three-fifths of the body, to vote to bring legislation to the floor. Four GOP senators’ offices said Tuesday they were unavailable to discuss the topic of Senate rules going into the session. And when it comes to the hot-button issues that could benefit from a rules change, state leaders have largely held back on detailing their agendas for the time being. “If we lose one or two seats, then we might have to go to 16 next session," Patrick said. Democrats denounced Patrick’s January comments, saying the rule change would bring a Washington, D.C.-style gridlock to Austin.

While campaigning for the state Senate seat, Gutierrez, a Democrat, made marijuana legalization one of his campaign platforms. In 2015, Texas lawmakers passed the Texas Compassionate Use Act, which legalized medical cannabis with less than 0.5% THC for people with specific diagnoses, like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Veterans unsuccessfully lobbied the legislature to include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as one of the diagnoses that qualify for medical marijuana use. Public sentiment has grown in Texas for marijuana legalization, polls showed. Dan Patrick, have yet to embrace marijuana legalization and have not completely been supportive of expanding medical use.

Texas State Capitol. And bookmark our Texas election results page here. Democrats and Republicans fighting for control of the Texas House appeared to be holding their numbers as early vote returns came in Tuesday. In one Houston-area race, state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, was behind her Democratic challenger Ann Johnson by nearly 7 percentage points, according to early vote returns. Flores, the first Hispanic Republican to serve in the Texas Senate, was down by a margin of roughly 22 percentage points.

Find other election results Type to search all races...State Senator, District 19 View All CandidatesGet more election results on our homepage and Vote 2020 page. Democrat Roland Gutierrez declares victory in state Senate race for District 19Wednesday, 3:49 p.m. - Roland Gutierrez has defeated Republican incumbent Pete Flores by more than 10,000 votes. Texas’ District 19 represents one of the largest legislative districts in the entire country, spanning 15 counties and covering 35,000 square miles and 400,000 miles of the Texas-Mexico border. BackgroundTwo years ago, Pete Flores stunned the Texas political landscape by winning the District 19 state senate seat. Texas State Senate District 19 (KSAT/Brittney Daniels)Before his run for the Texas Senate, Gutierrez had been a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 119 since 2008.

SAN ANTONIO – Two years ago, Pete Flores stunned the Texas political landscape by winning the District 19 state senate seat. Before his run for the Texas Senate, Gutierrez had been a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 119 since 2008. Prior to that, Gutierrez served on the San Antonio City Council from 2005-2008. In his first legislative session, Flores has authored or sponsored bills that focused on infrastructure and funding for the renovation of San Antonio State Hospital (SASH). Flores was the co-author of the Texas Property Tax Reform and Transparency Act of 2019, which provides immediate property tax relief and limits future tax-rate growth.

Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, spoke during during a Senate State Affairs committee hearing on July 23, 2017. According to early returns from the Texas Secretary of State, Lucio was leading Stapleton-Barrera 54%-46%. Another Senate runoff that drew considerable attention was the Democratic race to go against state Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton. Flores fell short in his bid to upset state Sen. Carlos Uresti for the seat in 2016. As of late Tuesday evening, the special election to replace former state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, remained fluid.

SAN ANTONIO Editors note: Election results will begin to populate on this page when early voting results are released at 7 p.m. (CST) on July 14. Background:This district will be one of the most interesting to watch both during the runoff and in November. Pea Rodriguez nearly avoided a runoff in March but Gutierrez usurped 36% of the vote, barely squeezing her into a runoff. Related: Judge again caught campaigning for daughter in Texas Senate race as questions emerge about her donationsRelated: Xochil Pea Rodriguez, Rep. Roland Gutierrez headed to runoff for state Senate District 19You can find additional election results by scrolling to the bottom of this page. For more election coverage, go to our Vote 2020 page or sign up for our free election newsletter.

SAN ANTONIO – Several Texas lawmakers from the area will be joined by other government officials for a Facebook Live event at 7 p.m. on Monday. Facebook Live will be available for viewing on the following Facebook Pages:Questions can be submitted on those Facebook pages. The following will be participating in the hour-long event:Texas State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (Dist. 120)Texas State Sen. Pete FloresTexas State Sen. Jose MenendezDr. Charles J. Lerner, Texas Medical Association COVID-19 Taskforce MemberDawn Emerick, Director of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health DistrictAnthony Ruiz, District Director San Antonio District Office U.S. Small Business AdministrationCOVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.