2010 Texas House of Representatives election

The 2010 Texas House of Representatives elections took place as part of the biennial United States elections. Texas voters elected state senators in all 150 State House of Representatives districts. The winners of this election served in the 82nd Texas Legislature. State representatives serve for two-year terms.

Background
Following the 2008 elections, the Democrats nearly gained control of the House with 74 members to the Republicans' 76. Republicans saw the freshmen Democratic members elected in 2008 as vulnerable, as many of them had narrowly won and had been the first Democrats elected to those districts in decades. Democrats also had a large number of incumbents in districts that voted heavily Republican on the national level. In November 2009, Democrat Chuck Hopson announced he had switched his party affiliation to Republican, increasing the size of the Republican caucus to 77. Hopson's district was the most Republican district in the state that had elected a Democrat in 2008. Democrats needed to gain three seats from the Republicans in order to win the majority.

Campaign
Republicans very heavily targeted White Democrats representing rural districts that voted for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. These conservative Democrats attempted to distance themselves from the national Democratic Party as pundits increasingly predicted a Republican wave election in opposition to the policies of President Barack Obama.

Results
In the end, the Republicans routed the Democrats in the general election, erasing all of the gains they had made in 2006 and 2008, as well as defeating almost every Democrat representing a rural, Republican-leaning district. Democrats lost 22 seats in the midst of a nationwide Republican wave election. On December 14, 2010, Democrat Allan Ritter announced he would be changing his party affiliation to Republican. On the same day, Democrat Aaron Peña announced he would be switching to the Republican Party as well, claiming that the Democratic Party no longer aligned with his conservative values. This left the party balance at 101 Republicans and 49 Democrats at the start of the Eighty-second Texas Legislature when it convened on January 11, 2011.

Close races
Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:• # District 48, 0.02%

• # District 106, 0.94% (gain)

• # District 134, 1.36% (gain)

• # District 93, 1.69% (gain)

• # District 47, 3.49% (gain)

• # District 101, 3.62% (gain)

• # District 117, 3.78% (gain)

• # District 149, 4.76%

• # District 96, 4.78% (gain)

• # District 78, 4.82% (gain)

• # District 107, 4.89% (gain)

• # District 33, 5.02% (gain)

• # District 35, 5.62% (gain)

• # District 57, 5.92% (gain)

• # District 23, 6.32%

• # District 105, 6.81%

• # District 45, 7.82% (gain)

• # District 34, 7.92% (gain)

• # District 102, 9.28% (gain)

• # District 74, 9.64%

Notable races
District 11: Representative Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville) was re-elected as a Democrat in 2008 with 49.29% of the vote. On November 6, 2009, he announced that he would switch parties and seek re-election as a Republican. He would later win re-election in 2010 with 75.82% of the vote.