Eighty-first Texas Legislature
# 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 Legislature passed two bills, both related to the sunset process, and adjourned sine die on July 10.

All members of the House of Representatives and 13 members of the Senate were elected on 4 November 2008.

## Party summary

### Senate

| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members |
| - | - | - |
| | Republican Party | 19 |
| | Democratic Party | 12 |
| Total | Total | 31 |

### House of Representatives

| Affiliation | Affiliation | Members |
| - | - | - |
| | Republican Party | 76 |
| | Democratic Party | 74 |
| Total | Total | 150 |

The numbers above reflect the partisan composition of the House at the beginning of the legislative session in January 2009. On November 6, 2009, Chuck Hopson (D—Jacksonville) announced he was changing his affiliation to Republican, resulting in 77 Republicans and 73 Democrats. On February 3, 2010, Rep. Terri Hodge (D—Dallas) announced she would resign due to pending felony charges against her. This left the House with 77 Republicans, 72 Democrats and one vacancy.

The composition of the State Senate has remained unchanged since the beginning of the 81st Legislature.

## Officers

### Senate

* Lieutenant Governor: David Dewhurst (R)
* President Pro Tempore: Robert Duncan (R)

### House of Representatives

* Speaker of the House: Joe Straus (R-San Antonio)
* Speaker Pro Tempore: Craig Eiland (D-Galveston)

## Members

### Senate

| Senator | Party | District | Home Town | Took Office |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Kevin Eltife | Republican | 1 | Tyler | 2004 |
| Bob Deuell | Republican | 2 | Greenville | 2003 |
| Robert Nichols | Republican | 3 | Jacksonville | 2007 |
| Tommy Williams | Republican | 4 | The Woodlands | 2003 |
| Steve Ogden | Republican | 5 | Bryan | 1997 |
| Mario Gallegos, Jr. | Democratic | 6 | Houston | 1995 |
| Dan Patrick | Republican | 7 | Houston | 2007 |
| Florence Shapiro | Republican | 8 | Plano | 1993 |
| Chris Harris | Republican | 9 | Arlington | 1991 |
| Wendy Davis | Democrat | 10 | Fort Worth | 2009 |
| Mike Jackson | Republican | 11 | La Porte | 1999 |
| Jane Nelson | Republican | 12 | Lewisville | 1993 |
| Rodney Ellis | Democratic | 13 | Houston | 1990 |
| Kirk Watson | Democratic | 14 | Austin | 2007 |
| John Whitmire | Democratic | 15 | Houston | 1983 |
| John Carona | Republican | 16 | Dallas | 1996 |
| Joan Huffman | Republican | 17 | Southside Place | 2008 |
| Glenn Hegar | Republican | 18 | Katy | 2007 |
| Carlos I. Uresti | Democratic | 19 | San Antonio | 2006 |
| Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa | Democratic | 20 | Mission | 2002 |
| Judith Zaffirini | Democratic | 21 | Laredo | 1987 |
| Kip Averitt | Republican | 22 | Waco | 2002 |
| Royce West | Democratic | 23 | Dallas | 1993 |
| Troy Fraser | Republican | 24 | Horseshoe Bay | 1997 |
| Jeff Wentworth | Republican | 25 | San Antonio | 1993 |
| Leticia R. Van de Putte | Democratic | 26 | San Antonio | 1999 |
| Eddie Lucio, Jr. | Democratic | 27 | Brownsville | 1991 |
| Robert L. Duncan | Republican | 28 | Lubbock | 1997 |
| Eliot Shapleigh | Democratic | 29 | El Paso | 1997 |
| Craig Estes | Republican | 30 | Wichita Falls | 2001 |
| Kel Seliger | Republican | 31 | Amarillo | 2004 |

### House of Representatives

| Representative | Party | Home Town/City | District ↑ | County |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Stephen Frost | D | New Boston | 1 | Bowie, Cass, Marion, Morris |
| Dan Flynn | R | Canton | 2 | Rains, Hunt, Van Zandt |
| Mark Homer | D | Paris | 3 | Lamar, Hopkins, Delta, Franklin, Titus, Red River |
| Betty Brown | R | Athens | 4 | Henderson, Kaufman |
| Bryan Hughes | R | Marshall | 5 | Camp, Upshur, Wood, Harrison |
| Leo Berman | R | Tyler | 6 | Smith |
| Tommy Merritt | R | Longview | 7 | Smith, Gregg |
| Byron Cook | R | Corsicana | 8 | Anderson, Freestone, Limestone, Navarro |
| Wayne Christian | R | Center | 9 | Shelby, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Sabine, Jasper |
| Jim Pitts | R | Waxahachie | 10 | Ellis, Hill |
| Chuck Hopson | R | Jacksonville | 11 | Panola, Rusk, Cherokee, Houston |
| Jim McReynolds | D | Lufkin | 12 | Angelina, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler |
| Lois Kolkhorst | R | Brenham | 13 | Austin, Grimes, Walker, Washington |
| Fred Brown | R | Bryan | 14 | Brazos |
| Rob Eissler | R | The Woodlands | 15 | Montgomery |
| Brandon Creighton | R | Conroe | 16 | Montgomery |
| Tim Kleinschmidt | R | Eagle Lake | 17 | Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Colorado, Fayette, Lee |
| John Otto | R | Dayton | 18 | Montgomery, Liberty, Polk |
| Mike "Tuffy" Hamilton | R | Mauriceville | 19 | Hardin, Newton, Orange |
| Dan Gattis | R | Georgetown | 20 | Milam, Williamson |
| Allan Ritter | D | Nederland | 21 | Jefferson |
| Joe D. Deshotel | D | Port Arthur | 22 | Jefferson, Orange |
| Craig Eiland | D | Galveston | 23 | Chambers, Galveston |
| Larry Taylor | R | League City | 24 | Galveston |
| Dennis Bonnen | R | Angleton | 25 | Brazoria |
| Charlie F. Howard | R | Sugar Land | 26 | Fort Bend |
| Dora Olivo | D | Missouri City | 27 | Fort Bend |
| John Zerwas | R | Katy | 28 | Wharton, Fort Bend, Waller |
| Randy Weber | R | Pearland | 29 | Brazoria, Matagorda |
| Geanie Morrison | R | Victoria | 30 | Refugio, Victoria, Jackson, DeWitt, Lavaca |
| Ryan Guillen | D | Rio Grande | 31 | Duval, Starr, Webb, Zapata |
| Todd Ames Hunter | R | Portland | 32 | Calhoun, Aransas, San Patricio, Nueces |
| Solomon Ortiz, Jr. | D | Corpus Christi | 33 | Nueces |
| Abel Herrero | D | Corpus Christi | 34 | Nueces |
| Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles | D | Beeville | 35 | Atascosa, Karnes, McMullen, Live Oak, Bee, Jim Wells, Goliad |
| Ismael "Kino" Flores | D | Mission | 36 | Hidalgo |
| Rene O. Oliveira | D | Brownsville | 37 | Cameron |
| Eddie Lucio III | D | San Benito | 38 | Cameron |
| Armando Martinez | D | Weslaco | 39 | Hidalgo |
| Aaron Peña | D | Edinburg | 40 | Hidalgo |
| Veronica Gonzalez | D | McAllen | 41 | Hidalgo |
| Richard Peña Raymond | D | Laredo | 42 | Webb |
| Tara Rios Ybarra | D | Kingsville | 43 | Jim Hogg, Brooks, Kleberg, Kenedy, Willacy, Cameron |
| Edmund Kuempel | R | Seguin | 44 | Wilson, Guadalupe, Gonzales |
| Patrick Rose | D | Austin | 45 | Blanco, Hays, Caldwell |
| Dawnna Dukes | D | Austin | 46 | Travis |
| Valinda Bolton | D | Austin | 47 | Travis |
| Donna Howard | D | Austin | 48 | Travis |
| Elliott Naishtat | D | Austin | 49 | Travis |
| Mark Strama | D | Austin | 50 | Travis |
| Eddie Rodriguez | D | Austin | 51 | Travis |
| Diana Maldonado | D | Round Rock | 52 | Williamson |
| Harvey Hilderbran | R | Kerrville | 53 | Crockett, Sutton, Schleicher, Real, Kerr, Kimble, Menard, Mason, Llano, San Saba, McCulloch, Concho, Coleman, Runnels, Callahan |
| Jimmie Don Aycock | R | Lampasas | 54 | Lampasas, Burnet, Bell |
| Ralph Sheffield | R | Temple | 55 | Bell |
| Charles "Doc" Anderson | R | Waco | 56 | McLennan |
| Jim Dunnam | D | Waco | 57 | McLennan, Falls, Leon, Madison, Robertson |
| Rob Orr | R | Burleson | 58 | Bosque, Johnson |
| Sid Miller | R | Stephenville | 59 | Erath, Comanche, Mills, Hamilton, Coryell, Somervell |
| Jim Keffer | R | Eastland | 60 | Brown, Eastland, Shackelford, Stephens, Palo Pinto, Hood |
| Phil King | R | Weatherford | 61 | Parker, Wise |
| Larry Phillips | R | Sherman | 62 | Fannin, Grayson |
| Tan Parker | R | Flower Mound | 63 | Denton |
| Myra Crownover | R | Lake Dallas | 64 | Denton |
| Burt Solomons | R | Carrollton | 65 | Denton |
| Brian McCall | R | Plano | 66 | Collin |
| Jerry Madden | R | Plano | 67 | Collin |
| Rick Hardcastle | R | Vernon | 68 | Motley, Dickens, Cottle, King, Hardeman, Foard, Knox, Haskell, Wilbarger, Baylor, Throckmorton, Young, Jack, Clay, Montague, Cooke |
| David Farabee | D | Wichita Falls | 69 | Wichita, Archer |
| Ken Paxton | R | McKinney | 70 | Collin |
| Susan King | R | Abilene | 71 | Nolan, Taylor |
| Drew Darby | R | San Angelo | 72 | Coke, Mitchell, Scurry, Tom Green |
| Nathan Macias | R | Spring Branch | 73 | Gillespie, Kendall, Comal, Bandera |
| Pete Gallego | D | Alpine | 74 | Uvalde, Edwards, Val Verde, Terrell, Pecos, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Ward, Reeves, Loving, Culberson, Hudspeth |
| Chente Quintanilla | D | El Paso | 75 | El Paso |
| Norma Chavez | D | El Paso | 76 | El Paso |
| Marisa Marquez | D | El Paso | 77 | El Paso |
| Joseph E. Moody | D | El Paso | 78 | El Paso |
| Joe Pickett | D | El Paso | 79 | El Paso |
| Tracy King | D | Eagle Pass | 80 | Kinney, Maverick, Zavala, Dimmit, La Salle, Frio, Medina |
| Tryon D. Lewis | | | 81 | Andrews, Winkler, Ector |
| Tom Craddick | R | Midland | 82 | Crane, Upton, Midland, Martin, Dawson |
| Delwin Jones | R | Lubbock | 83 | Lubbock, Hockley, Cochran, Yoakum, Gaines |
| Carl H. Isett | R | Lubbock | 84 | Lubbock |
| Joseph P. Heflin | D | Crosbyton | 85 | Reagan, Irion, Sterling, Glasscock, Howard, Borden, Terry, Lynn, Garza, Crosby, Kent, Stonewall, Fisher, Jones, Hale, Floyd |
| John T. Smithee | R | Amarillo | 86 | Dallam, Hartley, Oldham, Deaf Smith, Randall |
| David Swinford | R | Amarillo | 87 | Sherman, Moore, Carson, Potter |
| Warren Chisum | R | Pampa | 88 | Parmer, Bailey, Lamb, Castro, Swisher, Armstrong, Briscoe, Hall, Donley, Collingsworth, Childress, Gray, Wheeler, Hutchison, Roberts, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Hansford |
| Jodie Anne Laubenberg | R | Rockwall | 89 | Rockwall, Collin |
| Lon Burnam | D | Fort Worth | 90 | Tarrant |
| Kelly Hancock | R | Fort Worth | 91 | Tarrant |
| Todd Smith | R | Bedford | 92 | Tarrant |
| Paula Pierson | D | Arlington | 93 | Tarrant |
| Diane Patrick | R | Arlington | 94 | Tarrant |
| Marc Veasey | D | Fort Worth | 95 | Tarrant |
| Chris Turner | D | Arlington | 96 | Tarrant |
| Mark M. Shelton | R | Fort Worth | 97 | Tarrant |
| Vicki Truitt | R | Southlake | 98 | Tarrant |
| Charlie Geren | R | River Oaks | 99 | Tarrant |
| Terri Hodge | D | Dallas | 100 | Dallas |
| Robert Miklos | D | Mesquite | 101 | Dallas |
| Carol Kent | D | Dallas | 102 | Dallas |
| Rafael Anchia | D | Dallas | 103 | Dallas |
| Roberto R. Alonzo | D | Dallas | 104 | Dallas |
| Linda Harper-Brown | R | Irving | 105 | Dallas |
| Kirk England | D | Grand Prairie | 106 | Dallas |
| Allen Vaught | D | Dallas | 107 | Dallas |
| Dan Branch | R | Dallas | 108 | Dallas |
| Helen Giddings | D | De Soto | 109 | Dallas |
| Barbara Mallory Caraway | D | Dallas | 110 | Dallas |
| Yvonne Davis | D | Dallas | 111 | Dallas |
| Angie Chen Button | R | Richardson | 112 | Dallas |
| Joe Driver | R | Garland | 113 | Dallas |
| Will Ford Hartnett | R | Dallas | 114 | Dallas |
| Jim Jackson | R | Carrollton | 115 | Dallas |
| Trey Martinez Fischer | D | San Antonio | 116 | Bexar |
| David McQuade Leibowitz | D | San Antonio | 117 | Bexar |
| Joe Farias | D | San Antonio | 118 | Bexar |
| Roland Gutierrez | D | San Antonio | 119 | Bexar |
| Ruth Jones McClendon | D | San Antonio | 120 | Bexar |
| Joe Straus | R | San Antonio | 121 | Bexar |
| Frank Corte, Jr. | R | San Antonio | 122 | Bexar |
| Mike Villarreal | D | San Antonio | 123 | Bexar |
| Jose Menendez | D | San Antonio | 124 | Bexar |
| Joaquin Castro | D | San Antonio | 125 | Bexar |
| Patricia Harless | R | Spring | 126 | Harris |
| Joe Crabb | R | Kingwood | 127 | Harris |
| Wayne Smith | R | Baytown | 128 | Harris |
| John E. Davis | R | Houston | 129 | Harris |
| Allen Fletcher | R | Houston | 130 | Harris |
| Alma Allen | D | Houston | 131 | Harris |
| William "Bill" Callegari | R | Houston | 132 | Harris |
| Kristi Thibaut | D | Houston | 133 | Harris |
| Ellen Cohen | D | Houston | 134 | Harris |
| Gary Elkins | R | Houston | 135 | Harris |
| Beverly Woolley | R | Houston | 136 | Harris |
| Scott Hochberg | D | Houston | 137 | Harris |
| Dwayne Bohac | R | Houston | 138 | Harris |
| Sylvester Turner | D | Houston | 139 | Harris |
| Armando Walle | D | Houston | 140 | Harris |
| Senfronia Thompson | D | Houston | 141 | Harris |
| Harold V. Dutton, Jr. | D | Houston | 142 | Harris |
| Ana Hernandez | D | Houston | 143 | Harris |
| Ken Legler | R | Pasadena | 144 | Harris |
| Carol Alvarado | D | Houston | 145 | Harris |
| Al Edwards | D | Houston | 146 | Harris |
| Garnet Coleman | D | Houston | 147 | Harris |
| Jessica Cristina Farrar | D | Houston | 148 | Harris |
| Hubert Vo | D | Houston | 149 | Harris |
| Debbie Riddle | R | Houston | 150 | Harris |
