FORT WORTH, Texas -- For decades, Texas has been firmly red, and in recent years it seemed that grip was only tightening as Republicans in the state Legislature pushed through a school voucher program, a near-abortion ban, a new congressional map mid-decade, and other conservative priorities.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters made it clear that they'd had enough, rejecting Republican candidates up and down the ballot and ushering in the blue wave Democrats have long hoped for.
Democrat Gina Hinojosa is now the governor-elect and her state House colleague Vikki Goodwin won her bid for lieutenant governor, giving the party control of Texas' top two executive offices.
Democrats won't fully control the Legislature. The Texas House now has a Democratic majority, but Republicans still have more members in the Senate.
But even with a divided Capitol, the election results put Democrats in a better position headed into January when lawmakers next convene in Austin than any other legislative session in recent memory.
With that power comes an opportunity to roll back, rework or even try to repeal Republican laws that Democrats oppose.
There are many policies Democrats are looking forward to addressing, said state Rep. Nicole Collier, a Democrat.
"Taking the cue from our governor-elect, she has set the tone for the state," Collier said in a Thursday interview. "She wants to focus on working families, public education, healthcare. These are top issues that people care about, and not the culture wars."
There will be politics to navigate, especially with split party chambers, but Katherine Fischer, the director of the Texas Majority PAC, said Democrats have significantly more leverage now than Republicans.
Hinojosa has stressed bipartisanship as she begins her transition into the governor's office. She will be sworn in on Jan. 19. Sen. Carol Alvarado, who leads the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, said in a Wednesday interview that she's been talking with colleagues on the other side of the aisle to let them know Democrats are hoping to build a coalition.
Asked about Senate Democrat priorities, Alvarado's list included expanding Medicaid, "all things dealing with affordability," and reining in tax incentives for data centers. She also thinks getting rid of Texas' voucher program and using that money to fund public education will be a priority. She noted legislation limiting women's reproductive rights and DEI-related restrictions placed on colleges and universities as areas for potential rollbacks.
State Rep. Christina Morales, a Democrat who chairs the House Democratic Campaign Committee, noted Medicaid expansion, property tax relief while still funding public schools and Hinojosa's plan for $1,500 refund checks for Texans among the priorities for Democrats during a Wednesday interview.
Democrats will be looking for "victories they can hang their hat on" rather than "fights that they may or may not win," said Joshua Blank, the research for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Austin.
"While there will be incentives for Republicans in the Texas Senate to compromise and cooperate with Democrats, the extent of that still remains to be seen, and it's not going to result in an overall reversal in policies that they voted for just a few years ago," he said.
University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus expects Democrats to steer clear of social issues like abortion and policies related to transgender Texans.
"I think they're probably going to avoid those because they're a little bit too hot to handle off the bat, and Democrats want to make some inroads on affordability questions and issues that are... broadly closer to people's pocketbooks."
With all that in mind, here are some Texas policies we're watching.
Hinojosa, who joined the Texas House in 2017 as a state representative, made education a core tenant of her statewide bid.
She has vowed to end Texas' voucher program that was passed when lawmakers met in 2025. The policy lets parents use public dollars for their child's private or homeschooled education. Opponents argue the money is better spent helping Texas' public schools.
Hinojosa wants to "ensure Texans' taxpayer dollars go where they belong: into the neighborhood schools families depend on," according to her campaign website.
Lawmakers will have to work in a bipartisan way in the coming session, and opposition to vouchers is an area where voters made their opinion known, said Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Democrat, during a Friday news conference.
"Voters have spoken that they don't like the private school voucher," he said. "It's a scam. It's a solution looking for a problem."
He later added: "I think that's something that I would bring up to the senators and say that this is something that we need to undo, because if we want to resolve the property taxes, this is the most meaningful way that we could do that."
Hinojosa has also promised to end the STAAR test and pause Texas' A-F accountability system so the Legislature can "deliver a bill that creates real accountability."
The governor-elect said she would fire Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath and end state takeovers of public school districts, like the Fort Worth and Lake Worth interventions in North Texas.
At a Thursday news conference about her transition into the governorship, Hinojosa told reporters new candidates are being interviewed for the role.
But Texas has also passed new laws requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools, allowing designated prayer time in schools , and parental review of library books . (A 2023 law banning "sexually explicit material" in school libraries was blocked by federal court .)
Texas lawmakers have also restricted Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives in public schools , as well as colleges and universities while under Republican leadership.
Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, a "trigger law" passed by lawmakers in 2021 took effect that criminalized performing, inducing or attempting an abortion. Texas already had a near abortion ban in effect that was enforced civilly. Texas law does not make exceptions for abortions in cases of rape or incest.
Texas also restricts access to abortion medication . Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson, a current Dallas state senator, told The Texas Tribune he would not sue out-of-state doctors who send abortion medication to people living in Texas, which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has done during his tenure.
Morales said that as a mother of a young daughter she'd love to see lawmakers repeal abortion bans, but she can't yet say whether that will be a priority.
"There's so much work that needs to be done, and we haven't set those priorities yet," she said in a Wednesday interview.
In her election night victory speech, Goodwin said: "As lieutenant governor, I will not accept women dying from pregnancy and postpartum complications. We will change our laws and ensure that women can receive the care that they need. Everyone deserves the right to make their own personal private healthcare decisions."
Some Democrats are hoping that Texas will expand Medicaid, now that they have more control over state government. The expansion would extend Medicaid coverage to all adults who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level, according to KFF, previously called the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Morales and Alvarado said it's something they'd like to see now that Democrats have more power.
"Medicaid expansion is something that we've been trying to pass for a long time," said Morales.
Texas drew national attention in 2025 when lawmakers met mid-decade to redraw the state's congressional districts in hopes of picking up more GOP seats in the midterm elections. The new map positioned Republicans to gain five seats, but instead Democrats picked up one.
The next regularly-scheduled redistr