Texas Border Business
DAVID A. DÍAZ
Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Sen. Morgan LaMantia, D-South Padre Island, will be up for reelection in two years as a result of a required lottery involving all 31 members of the Senate that took place on Wednesday, January 11, 2023 at the Texas Capitol.
Only Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo/Starr County – the Rio Grande Valley’s third state senator – drew a lot that gave her a four-year term.
Every 10 years, state senators are required to draw lots to see who receives a two-year term or a four-year term.
Late Thursday evening, January 12, 2023, Hinojosa reacted to drawing a two-year term.
“By drawing a two-year term, I look forward to the opportunity for reelection next year. I will work tirelessly this session to continue addressing the issues that are a priority for our families, the business community, and that improve our quality-of-life and the Texas economy,” Hinojosa said. “I will do so by focusing on bread and butter issues such as education, health care, inflation, job training, and investing in infrastructure.”
As of late Thursday evening, January 12, 2023, LaMantia had not yet issued her reaction on her Facebook page or Senate website.
The previous day, Hinojosa noted that the Texas Legislature currently has a $32.7 billion budget surplus to help tackle those and other priorities for the state.
“I am energized, focused, and look forward to continue working for our families, our communities, and all Texans,” the Senate District 20 lawmaker said. “We have 140 days to focus on addressing critical issues like border security, property taxes, affordable health care, education, workforce training, transportation, expanding broadband access, flood mitigation, power grid reliability, and human trafficking.”
“A four-year term!” Zaffirini announced on her Facebook on Thursday, January 12, 2022. “This gives me the opportunity to concentrate on the families of our district without also running a campaign.”
The state senators drew in alphabetical order for two- or four-year terms, “which was required after we all ran in 2022 based on the redistricting map adopted by the Texas Legislature in 2021,” she explained. “Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) and I were the last two, and when he went up to draw, we were down to one two-year term and one four-year term. He drew a two, and I was delighted.”
Redistricting is the process by which the geographical divisions of the state into congressional, state representative, state senator, and State Board of Education electoral districts are periodically revised. District boundaries are redrawn every 10 years following the publication of the U.S. Census to maintain approximately equal populations across all electoral districts in the state.
