The 2014 general election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

on November 4, 2014. All of Texas's executive officers were up for election as well as a

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat, and all of Texas's thirty-six seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Primary runoffs, required if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, were held on May 27, 2014. Elections were also held for the Texas legislature and proposition 1, seeking funds for Texas highways (which passed). A combination of retirements, incumbents seeking other offices and a primary defeat means that after the election, for the first time since 1874, all of Texas's executive offices were held by new officeholders. The

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

made large gains in the 2014 elections, with Tea Party-backed candidates being elected into offices such as lieutenant governor and attorney general, among other offices.

Governor

Incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Rick Perry, who has served in the office since December 21, 2000, when

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

resigned ahead of being sworn in as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, has announced that he will not run for a fourth full term as governor. This will be the first open election for governor since 1990, when

Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Richards (née Willis; September 1, 1933 – September 13, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995. A Democrat, she first came to national attention as the Texas State Treasurer, w ...

was elected.

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

won the Republican primary, Wendy Davis won the Democratic primary. Kathie Glass won the Libertarian Party of Texas nomination in convention. They and a Green candidate will contest the general election. Abbott won the general election, defeating Davis by twenty points.

Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Republican Lieutenant Governor

David Dewhurst David Henry Dewhurst (born August 18, 1945) is an American politician, businessman, and attorney who served as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Texas, serving from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was the Texas Land Commissioner ...

ran for re-election to an unprecedented fourth term in office.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared *

, incumbent lieutenant governor * Dan Patrick, state senator * Jerry E. Patterson,

Commissioner of the General Land Office The General Land Office was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812, and it m ...

Todd Staples Douglas Todd Staples (born August 24, 1963) is the former two-term Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2014. On September 18, 2014, Staples announced that he would ...

Commissioner of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

;Declined * Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts

Polling

Results

Runoff

;Polling ;Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * Leticia Van de Putte, state senator ;Withdrew * Maria Luisa Alvarado, retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

master sergeant and nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Brandon de Hoyos, journalist ;Withdrew * Ed Kless, businessman

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Chandra Courtney

General election

Polling

Results

Attorney General

Incumbent Republican Attorney General

did not run for re-election to a fourth term. He was instead the Republican nominee for governor.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared *

Dan Branch Dan H. Branch (born March 5, 1958) is an American politician who served as the Texas State Representative for the 108th district from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he represented part of Dallas.Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a t ...

, state senator *

Barry Smitherman Barry Thomas Smitherman (born September 13, 1957) is an American lawyer who served as a member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2015. A Republican, he was appointed to the commission on July 8, 2011 by then Governor R ...

, chairman of the

Railroad Commission of Texas The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surf ...

;Declined *

Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

Polling

Results

Runoff

;Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * Sam Houston, attorney and nominee for Texas Supreme Court Justice Place 7 in 2008

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Jamie Balagia (In 2019, Balagia was found guilty of defrauding Colombian drug traffickers thousands of dollars after claiming to be well-connected to U.S. officials who could dismiss the drug trafficking cases if the Colombians paid money). * Tom Glass, Vice Chair of the

Libertarian Party of Texas The Libertarian Party of Texas is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Texas, US. In 1971, Texas was one of the 13 original founding state parties at the first LP convention in Denver, Colorado. Over the next five years, county affil ...

Balagia won the Libertarian nomination

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Jamar Osborne

General election

Polling

Results

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Incumbent Republican Comptroller Susan Combs retired and did not seek a third term in office.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared * Glenn Hegar, state senator * Harvey Hilderbran, state representative * Debra Medina, activist and candidate for governor in 2010 * Raul Torres, former state representative ;Declined * Susan Combs, Comptroller of Public Accounts

Polling

Results

A runoff was to be held, but with Hegar only narrowly below the 50% threshold and with several thousand provisional and overseas ballots to be counted, Hildebran withdrew on March 7, 2014, and endorsed Hegar. When the final results were released, Hegar had come only 50 votes short of winning the primary outright.

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * Mike Collier, businessman and accountant

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Ben Sanders

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Deb Shafto, nominee for Governor in 2010

General election

Polling

Results

Commissioner of the General Land Office

Incumbent Republican Commissioner Jerry E. Patterson did not run for re-election to a fourth term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared *

George P. Bush George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and attorney who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Bush unsuccessfully campaigned for the party's ...

, attorney, U.S. Navy Reserve officer and son of former

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush ...

* David Watts, businessman, author, preacher and flight instructor ;Declined * Jerry E. Patterson,

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * John Cook, former Mayor of

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Steven Childs * Justin Knight ;Withdrew * Ed Tidwell, Lago Vista City Councilman Knight won the Libertarian nomination

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Ulises Cabrera

General election

Polling

Results

Commissioner of Agriculture

Incumbent Republican Commissioner

did not run for re-election to a third term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor. On September 18, he announced that he would resign within the next two months, to become President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared * J. Allen Carnes, Mayor of Uvalde * Joe Cotten, candidate for

in 2012 * Tommy Merritt, former state representative * Sid Miller, former state representative * Eric Opiela, attorney, rancher and former executive director of the

Republican Party of Texas The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Texas. It is currently chaired by Matt Rinaldi, succeeding Allen West who resigned prior to the expiration of his term to run for governo ...

;Withdrew * Brandon Creighton, state representative (running for the State Senate) ;Declined *

Results

Runoff

;Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * Hugh Fitzsimons, rancher and former member of the Winter Garden Water Conservation District *

Kinky Friedman Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (born November 1, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and former columnist for ''Texas Monthly'' who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mar ...

, singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist and Independent candidate for Governor in 2006 * Jim Hogan, farmer and insurance agent

Results

Runoff

;Results

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Rick Donaldson * David "Rocky" Palmquist, rancher Palmquist won the Libertarian nomination.

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Kenneth Kendrick, food safety advocate and whistleblower

General election

Polling

Results

Railroad Commissioner

Incumbent Republican Commissioner

did not run for re-election to a full term. He instead ran unsuccessfully for attorney general.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared * Becky Berger, geologist and candidate for the Railroad Commission in 2012 * Malachi Boyuls, attorney and venture capitalist *

Wayne Christian Walter Wayne Christian (born September 26, 1950) is an American politician and financial planner from Center, Texas, who serves as a Republican member of the Texas Railroad Commission, having first won the position in the general election of Nov ...

, former state representative * Ryan Sitton, oil and gas engineer and candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in 2012 ;Withdrew * Stefani Carter, state representative (running for re-election) * Ray Keller, former state representative * Joe Pool, Jr., candidate for Texas Supreme Court Justice Place 4 in 2012 and son of former U.S. Representative Joe R. Pool ;Declined *

, Chairman of the

Results

Runoff

;Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared * Steve Brown, former Chairman of the

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

Democratic Party * Dale Henry, perennial candidate

Results

Libertarian nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Jason Kute * Mark Miller, businessman Miller won the Libertarian nomination.

Green nomination

Candidates

;Declared * Martina Salinas

General election

Polling

Results

Texas Legislature

Every seat in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

and about half of the seats in the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

were up for election.

Texas House of Representatives

Texas Senate

United States Senate

Incumbent Republican Senator and

Senate Minority Whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

ran for re-election to a third term. He won the Republican primary with 59% of the vote, easily turning back a primary challenge from U.S. Representative Steve Stockman and six others. The Democratic primary went to a runoff after businessman David Alameel took 47% of the vote and

Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement The Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement (WLYM or LYM) and the LaRouche Political Action Committee (LaRouche PAC or LPAC) are part of the political organization of controversial American political figure Lyndon LaRouche. The LYM's " war room" is in Le ...

activist

Kesha Rogers Lakesha D. Rogers (born December 9, 1976) is an American political activist in the Lyndon LaRouche Youth Movement, a former candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, and a two-time Democratic Party nominee for Texas's 22nd con ...

took 22% of the vote. Alameel won the runoff. In the general election, Cornyn defeated Alameel 61.6%–34.4%.

United States House of Representatives

All of Texas's thirty-six seats in the

were up for election in 2014.

References

{{2014 United States elections