Democrats won control of the Texas House of Representatives in Tuesday's general election for the first time in more than two decades, while Republicans held their majority in the Texas Senate — setting up a divided Legislature in Austin when lawmakers return in January, the Texas Tribune and the Associated Press reported. All results are unofficial until they are canvassed.

Source: The Texas Tribune via Texas Gazette

Republicans have controlled the Texas House since 2003. Democrats entered election night holding just 62 of the chamber's 150 seats and needed to flip 14 of them to take the majority, the Tribune reported. By Wednesday afternoon they were past the line: the Associated Press had called 76 House seats for Democrats — enough for a majority on its own — against 61 for Republicans, with 13 races not yet called, FOX 7 Austin reported.

The final margin may be wider. By early Wednesday afternoon, the AP had called 11 Republican-held House seats for Democrats, and Republican incumbents had conceded in three others, according to the Tribune. Democrats also led in at least seven more Republican districts where all Election Day returns had been counted. If those results hold, Democrats would hold 83 seats to Republicans' 67 — though recounts and remaining provisional and mail ballots could still change the totals.

Where Republicans lost

The losses were spread across the state, the Tribune reported. Republican state Reps. Janie Lopez of San Benito and Denise Villalobos of Corpus Christi lost in South Texas. In San Antonio, Democrat Kristian Carranza flipped the seat held by Rep. John Lujan, who ran for Congress instead, and Rep. Marc LaHood lost as well. In Dallas County, nine-term Rep. Angie Chen Button of Garland was unseated, and Rep. Ben Bumgarner of Flower Mound conceded in Denton County.

In Tarrant County, Rep. John McQueeney of Fort Worth trailed Democrat Beth Llewellyn McLaughlin by more than 1,000 votes in unofficial results, even though he outspent her 30-to-1 from July onward. One Tarrant race is still tangled: in House District 93, Democrat Ericka Lomick received the most votes after suspending her campaign in September amid questions about her eligibility, and Tarrant County Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo told the Tribune lawyers were examining the matter.

Not every targeted Republican fell. San Antonio Rep. Mark Dorazio and Houston Rep. Mano DeAyala won re-election, and University Park Rep. Morgan Meyer won by double digits in a long-targeted Dallas County district, according to the Tribune.

The Senate holds — with a new lieutenant governor above it

The AP determined that Republicans will keep the Texas Senate with a 19–12 majority, FOX 7 Austin reported. The last district in play, Senate District 2, was called just before 1 p.m. Wednesday for Republican Sen. Bob Hall, who led Democrat Keenen Colbert 51.4% to 48.6% with almost 99% of the vote counted. In Senate District 9, Democratic Sen. Taylor Rehmet of Fort Worth won a full four-year term over Republican Leigh Wambsganss, whom he first defeated in a January special election — in a district President Donald Trump carried by 17 points, the Tribune noted.

Six Senate districts were unexpectedly close but Republicans led in them, the Tribune reported, including Sen. Charles Schwertner of Georgetown. “Texas stands as long as the Texas Senate Republican caucus holds the line,” Schwertner posted on X shortly before midnight. “We will.” Above that chamber, however, sits a Democrat: with Vikki Goodwin's defeat of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Goodwin is poised to preside over the Senate, though the Republican majority was expected to consider new chamber rules limiting her powers, the Tribune reported.

The race to lead the new House starts at once

Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat who has served in the House since 1973, announced a bid for speaker before midnight, with the backing of at least 11 Democrats including caucus chair Gene Wu of Houston, the Tribune reported. “I am grateful for the support of my colleagues, and I am ready to lead this House with the experience, respect, and determination this moment demands,” Thompson said in a statement. Speaker Pro Tempore Joe Moody, an El Paso Democrat who has worked closely with Republican House leadership, was also in the running, a Democratic House staffer and GOP data consultant Ross Hunt told the Tribune.

State Rep. Christina Morales of Houston, who chairs House Democrats' campaign arm, told the Tribune the new majority's early priorities would include expanding Medicaid and repealing school vouchers. Hunt said Republicans would have to “really reinvent their party here in the state” to win back lost ground.

For Awaaz Punjab's readers, the change lands closest to home in Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth, two of the largest Punjabi diaspora and trucking-and-logistics communities in the United States. The debates the new majority has already named — Medicaid expansion, school vouchers and the state budget the speaker's chamber controls — are the ones that decide health coverage, schools and state services in those neighbourhoods, and they will now be run by a House leadership Texas has not had since 2003.

The House flip was part of a statewide Democratic sweep in Texas, led by the governor's race. Read: Gina Hinojosa defeats Greg Abbott for Texas governor