A recent study on the Texas House found that not a single member is considered “conservative” or “very conservative,” while 64 members are considered “liberal” or “very liberal.”
The study, conducted by the Grassroots America PAC, found the Texas House to be overwhelmingly “liberal” and the Texas Senate to be relatively evenly split. It concluded that 45 Texas House Republicans are “slightly liberal,” while 39 are “slightly conservative.” All House Democrats were in the two leftward columns, with 34 listed as “liberal” and 30 as “very liberal.”
The study from Grassroots America relies on the data from Rice University’s Texas Legislature rankings, which similarly shows a significant leftward tilt in the Texas House. Grassroots America details in its study how it altered Rice’s data to reflect what it describes as a “complete picture” of the legislators.
“The Rice U ranking is not 100% accurate because it uses a sample of their votes, and not every vote like we do,” the study webpage claims. “Rice U doesn’t look at the fiscal notes. We do. Rice U doesn’t look at bill amendments or committee activity. We do.”
Rice University’s study for this legislative session did still conclude the Texas House was more “liberal” than it was in its last session in 2021.
The three most “conservative” members of the House, according to Grassroots America, are Reps. Jared Patterson (R-Frisco), Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), and Cody Vasut (R-Angleton). The three most “liberal” in the study are Reps. Ana-Maria Ramos (D-Richardson), Christina Morales (D-Houston), and Gene Wu (D-Houston).
Grassroots America’s study found the Senate to be a more even split politically.
While no Senate Republicans were placed in the “very conservative” column, Sens. Bryan Hughes (Mineola) and Mayes Middleton (Galveston), were deemed “conservative.” Sixteen Republican senators were listed as “slightly conservative.” The remaining Republican, Robert Nichols (Jacksonville), landed in the “slightly liberal” column.
Two Democrats, Sens. Roland Gutierrez (San Antonio) and Sarah Eckhardt (Austin), were listed as “very liberal,” with another nine listed as “liberal,” and only Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (McAllen) as “slightly liberal.”
The Grassroots America study has no crossover in either chamber of a Democrat or Republican being more “conservative” or “liberal” than any member of the other party. The gap between the centermost members of the two parties (the leftmost Republican and the rightmost Democrat) is significantly narrower in the House.