State government
Main article: Government of Texas
See also: List of Texas state agencies
The Texas State Capitol at night.
The bicameral Texas Legislature consists of the House of Representatives, with 150 members, and a Senate, with 31 members. The Speaker of the House leads the House, and the lieutenant governor, the Senate.[129] The Legislature meets in regular session biennially for just over 100 days, but the governor can call for special sessions as often as desired (notably, the Legislature cannot call itself into session).[130] The state's fiscal year spans from the previous calendar year's September 1 to the current year's August 31. Thus, the FY 2015 dates from September 1, 2014 through August 31, 2015.
The judiciary of Texas is one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, for civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except for some municipal benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.[131] Texas is notable for its use of capital punishment, having led the country in executions since capital punishment was reinstated in the Gregg v. Georgia case (see Capital punishment in Texas).
The Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction. Over the years, the Texas Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption. They have acted as riot police and as detectives, protected the Texas governor, tracked down fugitives, and functioned as a paramilitary force both for the republic and the state. The Texas Rangers were unofficially created by Stephen F. Austin in 1823 and formally constituted in 1835. The Rangers were integral to several important events of Texas history and some of the best-known criminal cases in the history of the Old West.[132]
The Texas constitution defines the responsibilities of county governments, which serve as agents of the state. What are called commissioners court and court judges are elected to serve as the administrative arm. Most cities in the state, those over 5,000 in population, have home-rule governments. The vast majority of these have charters for council-manager forms of government, by which voters elect council members, who hire a professional city manager as operating officer.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Texas
Further information: Political party strength in Texas
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 52.23% 4,685,047 | 43.24% 3,877,868 |
| 2012 | 57.15% 4,569,843 | 41.37% 3,308,124 |
| 2008 | 55.39% 4,479,328 | 43.63% 3,528,633 |
| 2004 | 61.09% 4,526,917 | 38.30% 2,832,704 |
| 2000 | 59.30% 3,799,639 | 38.11% 2,433,746 |
| 1996 | 48.80% 2,736,166 | 43.81% 2,459,683 |
| 1992 | 40.61% 2,496,071 | 37.11% 2,281,815 |
| 1988 | 56.01% 3,036,829 | 43.41% 2,352,748 |
| 1984 | 63.58% 3,433,428 | 36.18% 1,949,276 |
| 1980 | 55.30% 2,510,705 | 41.51% 1,881,148 |
Political history
Lyndon B. Johnson, Texan and 36th president of the United States
Although Texas was essentially a one-party state during this time and the Democratic primary was viewed as "the real election," the Democratic Party had conservative and liberal factions, which became more pronounced after the New Deal.[136] Additionally, several factions of the party briefly split during the 1930s and 40s.[136]
The state's conservative white voters began to support Republican presidential candidates by the mid-20th century. After this period, they supported Republicans for local and state offices as well, and most whites became Republican Party members.[137] The party also attracted some minorities, but many have continued to vote for Democratic candidates. The shift to the Republican Party is much-attributed to the fact that the Democratic Party became increasingly liberal during the 20th century, and thus increasingly out-of-touch with the average Texas voter.[138] As Texas was always a conservative state, voters switched to the GOP, which now more closely reflected their beliefs.[138][139] Commentators have also attributed the shift to Republican political consultant Karl Rove, who managed numerous political campaigns in Texas in the 1980s and 90s.[139] Other stated reasons included court-ordered redistricting and the demographic shift in relation to the Sun Belt that favored the Republican Party and conservatism.[126]
The 2003 Texas redistricting of Congressional districts led by Republican Tom DeLay, was called by the New York Times "an extreme case of partisan gerrymandering".[140] A group of Democratic legislators, the "Texas Eleven", fled the state in a quorum-busting effort to prevent the legislature from acting, but was unsuccessful.[141] The state had already redistricted following the 2000 census. Despite these efforts, the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans, based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new residents in the state since that date. Career attorneys and analysts at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the votes of African American and Hispanic voters, but political appointees overrode them and approved it.[140] Legal challenges to the redistricting reached the national Supreme Court in the case League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006), but the court ruled in favor of the state (and Republicans).[142]
In the 2014 Texas elections, the Tea Party movement made large gains, with numerous Tea Party favorites being elected into office, including Dan Patrick as lieutenant governor,[143][144] Ken Paxton as attorney general,[143][145] in addition to numerous other candidates[145] including conservative Republican Greg Abbott as governor.[146]
Texas politics today
Texas voters lean toward fiscal conservatism, while enjoying the benefits of huge federal investment in the state in military and other facilities achieved by the power of the Solid South in the 20th century. They also tend to have socially conservative values.[147][148]Since 1980, most Texas voters have supported Republican presidential candidates. In 2000 and 2004, Republican George W. Bush won Texas with 60.1 percent of the vote, partly due to his "favorite son" status as a former governor of the state. John McCain won the state in 2008, but with a smaller margin of victory compared to Bush at 55 percent of the vote. Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio consistently lean Democratic in both local and statewide elections.
Residents of counties along the Rio Grande closer to the Mexico-United States border, where there are many Latino residents, generally vote for Democratic Party candidates, while most other rural and suburban areas of Texas have shifted to voting for Republican Party candidates.[149][150]
As of the general elections of 2014, a large majority of the members of Texas's U.S. House delegation are Republican, along with both U.S. Senators. In the 114th United States Congress, of the 36 Congressional districts in Texas, 25 are held by Republicans and 11 by Democrats. Texas's Senators are John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Since 1994, Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office. The state's Democratic voters are made up primarily by liberal and minority groups in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Beaumont, and El Paso, as well as minority voters in East Texas and South Texas.
| United States presidential election in Texas, 2016[151] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Donald Trump | Mike Pence | 4,685,047 | 52.23% | 36 | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton | Tim Kaine | 3,877,868 | 43.24% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | William Weld | 283,492 | 3.16% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein | Ajamu Baraka | 71,558 | 0.80% | 0 | |
| Write-in | Various candidates | Various candidates | 51,261 | 0.57% | 0 | |
| Republican | John Kasich[a] | Carly Fiorina[a] | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | |
| Libertarian | Ron Paul[a] | Mike Pence | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | |
| Totals | 8,969,226 | 100.00% | 38 | |||
| Voter turnout (Voting age population) | ||||||
Administrative divisions
See also: List of Texas counties
Texas has 254 counties— the most nationwide. Each county runs on Commissioners' Court
system consisting of four elected commissioners (one from each of four
precincts in the county, roughly divided according to population) and a
county judge elected at large from the entire county. County government
runs similar to a "weak" mayor-council system; the county judge has no veto authority, but votes along with the other commissioners.Although Texas permits cities and counties to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services, the state does not allow consolidated city-county governments, nor does it have metropolitan governments. Counties are not granted home rule status; their powers are strictly defined by state law. The state does not have townships— areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a municipality. The county provides limited services to unincorporated areas and to some smaller incorporated areas. Municipalities are classified either "general law" cities or "home rule".[152] A municipality may elect home rule status once it exceeds 5,000 population with voter approval.
Texas also permits the creation of "special districts", which provide limited services. The most common is the school district, but can also include hospital districts, community college districts, and utility districts (one utility district located near Austin was the plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case involving the Voting Rights Act).
Municipal, school district, and special district elections are nonpartisan,[153] though the party affiliation of a candidate may be well-known. County and state elections are partisan.
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