TEXAS, USA — Texas remains a firm Republican stronghold, as shown by the 2022 midterm election results.
In addition to Gov. Greg Abbott securing re-election over Beto O'Rourke, and other GOP victories in the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, Republicans staved off Democrat competitors in other major statewide campaigns.
Texas Comptroller
Republican Glenn Hegar is on track to continue overseeing the state's financial accounts after holding off Democratic challenger Janet Dudding. With 55% of Texas polling sites reporting results, Hegar has collected 64% of the vote.
Results for Hegar and Dudding will continue tabulating here as ballots are counted.
In addition to overseeing financial accounts, the comptroller manages hundreds of state contracts on behalf of other agencies and provides forecasts on the state’s revenue and economy for the Legislature.
The race was widely considered to be a low-information race for a powerful position overseeing a state budget that reached $265 billion for the 2022-23 biennium.
Hegar, 51, has made increasingly provocative moves in recent weeks, challenging financial companies he says are anti-oil and gas and threatening budget sanctions against Harris County over law enforcement funding, among other attention-grabbing actions that align with GOP party planks.
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Texas Land Commissioner
Republican Dawn Buckingham will be the likely winner in her campaign to head up the Texas General Land Office, having comfortably led Democrat Jay Kleberg all evening.
Results for Kleberg, Buckingham and Molison Jr. will continue tabulating below as Election Day ballots are counted.
The land commissioner heads the Texas General Land Office, the oldest public agency in the state. It manages public land across the state and plays a role in preserving some of its wildlife. The GLO also helps fund public schools in Texas by contributing to and handling the Texas Permanent School Fund, a statewide education endowment worth more than $48 billion, making it the largest in the country.
The office is responsible for managing and distributing natural disaster relief funding, including billions of dollars Congress appropriated after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and has managed the Alamo since 2011. The land commissioner also chairs the Veterans Land Board, which oversees nine veterans’ homes and four veterans’ cemeteries.
While no Texas Democrat has won statewide office since 1994, Kleberg had nearly 1.5 times as much campaign cash on hand than Buckingham at the end of September, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. He had more than $860,000 in his campaign coffers, compared to her $600,000.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner
Republican Sid Miller also held a lead of at least 25 percentage points all night, and continues to glide to re-election with 54% of Texas polling sites reporting results. He was facing off against Democrat Susan Hays, in a battle of candidates with deep Texas roots but contrasting visions of government.
Results for Miller and Hays will start tabulating here after polls close on Election Day.
The agriculture commissioner is mostly concerned with supporting Texas farmers and overseeing the agriculture industry, which includes the regulation of equipment like weights and measuring devices. They also head up oversight of programs for school lunches and initiatives to address hunger.
With his signature cowboy hat and pressed blue jeans, Miller, 67, is the old-school image of a Texas cowboy. He was drawn to the Republican Party because he saw it as the party of freedom.
Hays, 53, is a headstrong Democrat and an equal rights lawyer who has fought for women, pregnant minors and Texas voters. Her political ideologies are driven by her lessons in vacation Bible school and growing up around politicians whom she considered good examples for public service.
Texas Railroad Commissioner
Wayne Christian was never genuinely threatened by his opponents while seeking a second six-year term as a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, and is on track to win re-election.
Results for Christian, Warford, Diez and Crow will start tabulating here after polls close on Election Day.
Like any Democrat running for statewide office, Warford came in as an underdog: All three railroad commissioners are Republicans; a Democrat hasn’t won any statewide office since the 1990s. Warford is focusing his campaign on last year’s power grid failure — when a winter storm knocked out lights and heat for millions of Texans for days and left hundreds of people dead — by trying to connect the catastrophe to the Railroad Commission and Christian’s leadership.
