Texas Senate

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The Texas Senate is the upper house in the Texas State Legislature. It consists of 31 members. According to the Texas Constitution, Texas senators serve four-year terms and one-half of the Senate membership is elected every two years in even-numbered years, with the exception that all 31 Senate seats are up for election for the first legislature following the decennial census in order to reflect the newly redrawn districts. After the initial election, the Senate is divided by lot into two classes, with one class having a re-election after two years and the other having a re-election after four years. Texas state senators are not subject to term limits.

Party balance

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	12
	Republican Party	19
Total		31

List of current members

District	Representative	Party	Home Town	Took Office
1	Kevin Eltife	Republican	Tyler	2004
2	Bob Deuell	Republican	Greenville	2003
3	Robert Nichols	Republican	Jacksonville	2007
4	Tommy Williams	Republican	The Woodlands	2003
5	Steve Ogden	Republican	Bryan	1997
6	Mario Gallegos	Democrat	Houston	1995
7	Dan Patrick	Republican	Houston	2007
8	Florence Shapiro	Republican	Plano	1993
9	Chris Harris	Republican	Arlington	1991
10	Wendy Davis	Democrat		2008
11	Mike Jackson	Republican	La Porte	1999
12	Jane Nelson	Republican	Lewisville	1993
13	Rodney Ellis	Democrat	Houston	1990
14	Kirk Watson	Democrat	Austin	2007
15	John Whitmire	Democrat	Houston	1983
16	John Carona	Republican	Dallas	1996
17	Joan Huffman	Republican		2008
18	Glenn Hegar	Republican	Katy	2007
19	Carlos Uresti	Democrat	San Antonio	2006
20	Juan Hinojosa	Democrat	Mission	2002
21	Judith Zaffirini	Democrat	Laredo	1987
22	Kip Averitt	Republican	Waco	2002
23	Royce West	Democrat	Dallas	1993
24	Troy Fraser	Republican	Horseshoe Bay	1997
25	Jeff Wentworth	Republican	San Antonio	1993
26	Leticia Van de Putte	Democrat	San Antonio	1999
27	Eddie Lucio	Democrat	Brownsville	1991
28	Robert Duncan	Republican	Lubbock	1997
29	Eliot Shapleigh	Democrat	El Paso	1997
30	Craig Estes	Republican	Wichita Falls	2001
31	Kel Seliger	Republican	Amarillo	2004

Senate Committees

The Texas Senate has 18 standing committees:

• Administration Committee, Texas Senate
• Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee, Texas Senate
• Business & Commerce Committee, Texas Senate
• Criminal Justice Committee, Texas Senate
• Economic Development Committee, Texas Senate
• Education Committee, Texas Senate
• Finance Committee, Texas Senate
• Government Organization Committee, Texas Senate
• Health & Human Services Committee, Texas Senate
• Higher Education Committee, Texas Senate
• Intergovernmental Relations Committee, Texas Senate
• International Relations and Trade Committee, Texas Senate
• Jurisprudence Committee, Texas Senate
• Natural Resources Committee, Texas Senate
• Nominations Committee, Texas Senate
• State Affairs Committee, Texas Senate
• Transportation & Homeland Security Committee, Texas Senate
• Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee, Texas Senate

External links

• Texas Senate official website
• Vote Smart profile of Texas Senate
• Wikipedia:Texas Senate

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

v • d • e Current members of the Texas Senate     Kevin Eltife (R) Bob Deuell (R) Robert Nichols (R) Tommy Williams (R) Steve Ogden (R) Mario Gallegos (D) Dan Patrick (R) Florence Shapiro (R) Chris Harris (R) Wendy Davis (D) Mike Jackson (R) Jane Nelson (R) Rodney Ellis (D) Kirk Watson (D) John Whitmire (D) John Carona (R) Joan Huffman (R) Glenn Hegar (R) Carlos Uresti (D) Juan Hinojosa (D) Judith Zaffirini (D) Kip Averitt (R) Royce West (D) Troy Fraser (R) Jeff Wentworth (R) Leticia Van de Putte (D) Eddie Lucio (D) Robert Duncan (R) Eliot Shapleigh (D) Craig Estes (R) Kel Seliger (R) Democratic (12) • Republican (19) • Texas Senate • Texas House of Representatives

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