How does Texas’s Senate delegation currently break down by party and when are their next elections?
Executive summary
Texas’s U.S. Senate delegation is wholly Republican: Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are the two U.S. senators from Texas (both listed as Republicans) [1] [2]. One of Texas’s U.S. Senate seats will be on the 2026 ballot (Class I seat contested March 3, 2026 primary, November 3, 2026 general) while the other class’s next regular election was last held in 2024—reporting links identify the 2026 Senate contest and note Cornyn and other Republican candidates filing for that cycle [3] [2].
1. Two senators, both Republican — the current delegation
Texas has two members in the U.S. Senate and both are Republicans: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are identified as the state’s senators in current listings [1] [2]. Multiple assembled sources and trackers reiterate that both U.S. Senate seats from Texas are held by Republicans and that Democrats have not held a Texas Senate seat since the early 1990s in the cited reporting [4] [2].
2. Which seat is up when — the 2026 contest and the other class
Reporting and election trackers show a U.S. Senate election in Texas scheduled for November 3, 2026, with party primaries on March 3, 2026 and a May 26, 2026 primary runoff date; Ballotpedia’s page on the 2026 Texas Senate race lists candidates and the calendar for that cycle [3]. Ballotpedia’s overview ties those dates to the Class I term that runs Jan. 3, 2025–Jan. 3, 2031, indicating the 2026 general election will select the senator for the seat contested in that cycle [2] [3]. Available sources do not provide an explicit single-line mapping of which incumbent occupies which class in the snippets provided, but they do identify that an election is set for 2026 and list candidates filing for that race [3] [2].
3. Who’s running and intra-party dynamics reported
Ballotpedia and related reporting list multiple Republican candidates in the 2026 cycle, including high-profile filings and intra-party competition; John Cornyn, Wesley Hunt, Ken Paxton and others were named as participants in the Republican primary for the 2026 U.S. Senate contest in Texas [3] [5]. Ballotpedia news frames the GOP primary in Texas as crowded and sometimes contentious, noting Cornyn has faced criticism from conservative elements for prior bipartisan actions [4]. These sources show the Republican primary is a focal point for the seat up in 2026 [3] [4].
4. Partisan balance of the wider Texas congressional delegation
Beyond the Senate, trackers note Texas’ broader congressional delegation is dominated by Republicans: multiple sources list the U.S. House count from Texas as heavily Republican (for example, Ballotpedia News reports 25 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the House delegation as of late 2025) [4] [6]. Those tallies contextualize why both Senate seats are Republican-held and why the 2026 Senate race is receiving attention from both parties [4] [6].
5. Where reporting is explicit — and where it’s not
The provided sources explicitly state that both Texas U.S. senators are Republicans and that a Senate election will be held in 2026 with primaries March 3, 2026 and general election November 3, 2026 [1] [2] [3]. The sources name candidates running in the 2026 cycle and describe intra-party dynamics [4] [3]. Available sources do not include a concise, single snippet in these results that labels which senator occupies Class I versus Class II in the exact quoted lines here; they do, however, describe the Class I term span and link it to the 2026 cycle [2] [3].
6. What this means politically — why the 2026 seat matters
Election trackers characterize the 2026 Texas Senate race as strategically significant even if not initially a top Democratic pickup target; the crowded Republican primary and the presence of high-profile intraparty challengers suggest the real contest may play out within the GOP as much as between parties [3] [4]. The broader Republican advantage in Texas’s congressional delegation underscores why national forecasters are watching candidate quality and turnout rather than just raw partisan ID [4] [6].
Limitations: this summary relies solely on the provided sources; detailed, up-to-the-minute lists of which senator is in which class or the full list of declared candidates may be available elsewhere but are not contained in the supplied snippets [2] [3].