The 2006 Texas General Election was held on Tuesday, 7 November 2006, in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Voters statewide elected the

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

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, Commissioner of Agriculture, and one Railroad Commissioner. Statewide judicial offices up for election were the chief justice and four justices of the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court o ...

, and the presiding judge and two judges of the

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a presiding judge and eight judges. Article V ...

. Elections were additionally held for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

, and Texas House. Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in

party primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

held 7 March 2006. In races without a majority, the runoff elections were held on 11 April 2006.

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

candidates were selected at the Texas Libertarian Convention 10 June 2006 in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

(the Libertarian Party does not use a primary system to select candidates). Independent candidates had 60 days after the primaries are over (from 8 March, one day after the primary election, to 11 May 2006) to collect the necessary signatures to secure a place on the ballot. For statewide elections, state law proscribes the collection of one percent of voters casting ballots in the prior gubernatorial election (for 2006, this equates to 45,540 signatures) from registered voters that did not vote in either primary or any runoffs. If there was a primary runoff for the office an independent candidate is seeking, the petition process shrank to only 30 days, from 12 April (one day after the runoff elections) to 11 May 200

United States Senator

Governor

Lieutenant governor

Attorney general

Incumbent Attorney general

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

ran for re-election, winning by a 22% margin.

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Commissioner of the General Land Office

2006 Texas land commissioner election results map by county

Commissioner of Agriculture

Railroad Commissioner

Texas Supreme Court

Chief Justice, ''Unexpired term''

; Republican : Wallace Jefferson, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Tom Oxford ; Green (Write-in) : Charles E. Waterbury

Justice, Place 2

; Republican :

Don Willett Donny Ray Willett (born July 16, 1966) is an American lawyer and jurist serving since 2018 as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was previously a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 2005 to 2018. ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : William E. Moody ; Libertarian : Wade Wilson

Justice, Place 4

; Republican : David M. Medina, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Jerry Adkins

Justice, Place 6

; Republican :

Nathan Hecht Nathan Lincoln Hecht (born August 15, 1949) is an American lawyer who served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas from 2013 until his mandatory retirement December 31, 2024. A Republican from Dallas, Hecht was first elected to the ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Todd Phillipp ; Independent (declared) : Petition deadline has passed for ballot access, but may run as

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

candidate :: William W. McNeal

Justice, Place 8, ''Unexpired term''

; Republican : Phil Johnson, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Jay H. Cookingham

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Presiding Judge

; Republican :

Sharon Keller Sharon Faye Keller (born August 1, 1953) is the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She is a Republican. Education and early career Born in Texas, Keller graduated from Rice University in Houston in 1975 with a major in phil ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat :

J.R. Molina JR, J. R. or Jr. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' J R'', a 1975 novel by William Gaddis * J. R. Ewing, a ''Dallas'' television character * JR Chandler, an ''All My Children'' television character * ''Jornal da Record'', a Brazilian news ...

Judge, Place 7

; Republican :

Barbara Parker Hervey Barbara Parker Hervey (born June 26, 1953) is a Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; she holds the Place 7 seat. Background Hervey earned her bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian :

Quanah Parker Quanah Parker (, ; – February 23, 1911) was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Coman ...

Judge, Place 8

; Republican : Charles Holcomb, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Dave Howard

Legislative elections

Sixteen

seats and all 150

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. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

seats are up for election in 2006. The senators and representatives elected in 2006 served in the Eightieth Texas Legislature, while the senators also served in the

Eighty-first Texas Legislature The 81st Texas Legislature began meeting in regular session on January 11, 2009. The regular session adjourned sine die on June 1, 2009. Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, called a special session of the Legislature on July 1, 2009. The Legisl ...

Texas Senate

Fifteen of the sixteen elections for the

were contested to some extent. In the

District 3 District 3 can refer to: *III District, Turku, in Finland *District 3, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 3, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia *District 3, Malta, an electoral district of Malta *District 3, a police district of Malta *Wiedikon, also k ...

race, Robert Nichols won his Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

and will be unopposed in the fall election.

Texas House of Representatives

In the

, 118 of the 150 seats were be contested in the November 2006 election. Thirty races will be uncontested after the primary elections on 7 March 2006; the remaining two will be determined in the primary runoffs on 11 April 2006.

State Board of Education

''Only contested elections are listed.''

Member, State Board of Education, District 3

; Republican : Tony Cunningham ; Democrat : Rick Agosto

Member, State Board of Education, District 5

; Republican : Ken Mercer ; Libertarian : Bill Oliver

Member, State Board of Education, District 9

; Republican :

Don McLeroy John Donald "Don" McLeroy (born June 3, 1946) is a dentist in Bryan, Texas, and a Republican former member of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). The SBOE establishes policy for the state public school system. McLeroy, who represented ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : Maggie Charleton

Member, State Board of Education, District 10

; Republican : Cynthia Dunbar ; Libertarian : Martin Thomen

Member, State Board of Education, District 12

; Republican : Geraldine "Tincy" Miller, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Matthew Havener

Member, State Board of Education, District 15

; Republican : Bob Craig, ''Incumbent'' ; Libertarian : Brandon Stacker

Courts of Appeal District elections

''Only contested elections are listed.''

1st Court of Appeals District

Place 9

; Republican :

Elsa Alcala Elsa R. Alcala, also known as Elsa Spjut (born 1964), is a former Republican official who most recently served (2011–2018) as one of the nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. She was appointed to the Place 8 on the bench by then ...

, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : Jim Sharp

3rd Court of Appeals District

Place 2

; Republican : Alan Waldrop, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : Jim Sybert Coronado

Place 5

; Republican : David Puryear, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : Mina A. Brees

Place 6

; Republican : Bob Pemberton, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat :

Bree Buchanan This is a list of notable characters from the ABC soap opera ''One Life to Live'' that made their first appearance between 2000 and 2009. Kimberly Andrews Kimberly Andrews (born Aubrey Wentworth) is a fictional character on the American soa ...

4th Court of Appeals District

Place 3

; Republican : Rebecca Simmons, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat : Richard Garcia, Jr.

Place 4

; Republican : Steve Hilbig ; Democrat : Dan Pozza

Place 5

; Republican : Karen Angelini, ''Incumbent'' ; Democrat :

Lauro A. Bustamante Lauro is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. It is located in lower Irpinia, in a woody valley. Sights include the remains of a 1st-century BC Roman ''thermae In ancient Rome, (from ...

United States Senator

Governor

Lieutenant governor

Attorney general

Comptroller of Public Accounts

Commissioner of the General Land Office

Commissioner of Agriculture

Railroad Commissioner

Texas Supreme Court

Chief Justice, ''Unexpired term''

Justice, Place 2

Justice, Place 4

Justice, Place 6

Justice, Place 8, ''Unexpired term''

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Presiding Judge

Judge, Place 7

Judge, Place 8

Legislative elections

Texas Senate

Texas House of Representatives

State Board of Education

Member, State Board of Education, District 3

Member, State Board of Education, District 5

Member, State Board of Education, District 9

Member, State Board of Education, District 10

Member, State Board of Education, District 12

Member, State Board of Education, District 15

Courts of Appeal District elections

1st Court of Appeals District

Place 9

3rd Court of Appeals District

Place 2

Place 5

Place 6

4th Court of Appeals District

Place 3

Place 4

Place 5

Place 7

6th Court of Appeals District

Place 2

13th Court of Appeals District

Place 2

14th Court of Appeals District

Place 6

References

See also