Welcome to the Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Nearly two-thirds of 2026 legislative referrals reflect partisan divides in legislative support
- Texas to hold its first congressional elections since redistricting
- U.S. Supreme Court allows use of expanded SAVE system ahead of the November elections
Nearly two-thirds of 2026 legislative referrals reflect partisan divides in legislative support
Legislatures in 32 states referred 109 constitutional amendments and statutes to the ballot in 2026. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those referrals reflect partisan divisions in the legislative votes that put them there.
Ballotpedia analyzed how Democrats and Republicans voted on each referral. Of the 109 legislatively referred measures on the ballot this year:
- 41 (37.6%) were classified as Republican, which was the single largest category. Twenty-one of those received unanimous Democratic opposition.
- 40 (36.7%) were classified as bipartisan, with the two parties' support levels within 20 percentage points of each other. Twenty-one received unanimous support from all voting members of both parties.
- 17 (15.6%) were classified as Democratic, including 11 that received unanimous Republican opposition.
- Six (5.5%) were classified as Lean Democratic.
- Five (4.6%) were classified as Lean Republican.
The Republican and Democratic categories together account for 58 (53%) of all referrals. For these measures, the parties’ support levels differed by more than 60 percentage points. Adding the two Lean categories brings the total to 69 measures, or 63% of all referrals.
Which topics appeared most often
The most common topics differed across the three largest classifications. Among bipartisan referrals, property tax exemptions appeared in seven measures, bond issues in five, and local government finance and taxes in four.
Among Republican-classified referrals, the initiative and referendum process appeared in six measures. Ballot measure procedures, public education governance, and constitutional rights appeared in five each. Voter identification, citizenship voting requirements, and ballot measure supermajority requirements each appeared in four.
Among Democratic-classified referrals, constitutional rights appeared in three measures. Bond issues and redistricting appeared in two each. No other topic appeared in more than one Democratic referral.
What voters have decided so far
Voters have already decided 20 of the 109 referrals. The other 89 measures are on the Nov. 3 ballot. So far, voters approved two of eight (25%) Republican-classified measures, three of six (50%) bipartisan measures, and all six (100%) Democratic-classified measures. No Lean Republican or Lean Democratic measures have been decided.
How 2026 compares with 2025
Legislatures in eight states referred 28 measures to statewide ballots in 2025, including 17 from Texas. The smaller total reflects the election calendar: odd-numbered years average 28 legislative referrals, compared with 106 in even-numbered years.
Texas often plays a large role in odd-numbered-year legislative referral counts. Its Legislature only meets in odd-numbered years, and the November election in those years is usually when voters decide on the referred measures.
The 2025 measures also had a different mix of legislative support. Twelve were classified as bipartisan, eight as Lean Republican, and four as Republican. In 2026, the corresponding counts are 40, five, and 41. Texas accounted for 61% of the 2025 total, and its requirement for a two-thirds vote to refer a constitutional amendment meant Republicans needed some Democratic support.
Voter approval also varied by classification in 2025.
- All 12 (100%) bipartisan referrals passed, as did seven of eight (88%) Lean Republican referrals and one of four (25%) Republican-classified referrals.
- Voters approved all three (100%) Democratic referrals and the one (100%) Lean Democratic referral.
Republican-classified measures had a 25% approval rate in both 2025 and in the eight decided so far this year.
How the measures were classified
Ballotpedia's Partisan Direction Index (PDI) measures the gap between the share of Republican and Democratic legislators who voted yes on a given referral, producing a score from -100% (only Democrats) to +100% (only Republicans). Scores within 20 percentage points of zero in either direction are classified as bipartisan. Beyond that threshold, measures are classified as Lean Democratic, Democratic, Lean Republican, or Republican depending on the direction and size of the gap. For example, when the Vermont Legislature referred Proposal 3 to the ballot in 2026, 100% of Democrats and 75.8% of Republicans voted yes, a -24.2 percentage point gap classified as Lean Democratic.
Click here to see our full 2026 analysis of the partisanship of state legislative votes on legislatively referred ballot measures.
Texas to hold its first congressional elections since redistricting
Welcome to our next installment of our 50 States in 50 Days series, covering Texas. To view our archive of past editions, click here.
On Nov. 3, Texas will hold its first congressional elections since the Texas Legislature passed and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a new congressional map in August 2025. Based on 2024 presidential results, the new map shifted five Democratic-held districts toward Republicans.
Texas was the first state to redraw its congressional map ahead of the 2026 elections. Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah also adopted new congressional maps ahead of the 2026 elections. Five of those states implemented new maps voluntarily. Ohio was required to implement new maps by law, and litigation led to new maps in Alabama, Louisiana, and Utah. Before 2025, only two states had voluntarily conducted mid-decade redistricting since 1970. Click here to read more about mid-decade redistricting nationwide ahead of the 2026 elections.
Want to see what’s on your ballot this November? Click here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool. Now let’s take a closer look at what’s happening in Texas.
Early voting opens Oct. 19 and ends Oct. 30.
Polls open on Election Day at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.
Voter ID is required. Acceptable forms of identification include a Texas driver’s license, election identification certificate, handgun license, or passport. Voters who cannot reasonably obtain an acceptable form of photo ID may sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and present a non-photo form of ID, such as a utility bill, bank statement, or government document. For more information on voter ID in Texas, click here.
Absentee/mail-in ballots must be requested by Oct. 23. Returned ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 4. Under a 2025 law, voters must be able to correct defects in their mail ballot carrier envelopes by mail or by visiting the clerk’s office within six days after the election.
Current party control
Republicans represent 24 congressional districts and Democrats represent 13. Texas' 23rd Congressional District has been vacant since April, when then-Rep. Tony Gonzales (R) resigned after the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations that Gonzales had an affair with an aide. Both of Texas’ U.S. Senators are Republicans.
Republicans have an 18-12 majority with one vacancy in the Texas Senate and an 86-62 majority with two vacancies in the Texas House of Representatives. Because the governor is a Republican, Texas is one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta. Texas’ attorney general and secretary of state are also Republicans. As a result, Texas is one of 24 states with a Republican triplex. Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Each court has nine members, all of whom are Republicans.
Offices on the ballot
Elections are taking place for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, 16 state executive offices, 16 state Senate seats, and all 150 state House seats.
Four seats on the Texas Supreme Court and three seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals are also up for election. Twenty-five intermediate appellate court judgeships are also up.
Texas is one of 32 states this year in which we are covering all local elections for school boards and municipal offices.
Battleground elections
U.S. Senate: James Talarico (D), Ken Paxton (R), and five other candidates are running. Talarico is a member of the Texas House of Representatives, and Paxton is the state’s attorney general. Incumbent John Cornyn (R) lost to Paxton in the Republican primary runoff. Major election forecasters have rated the general election as lean Republican or a toss-up. The last Democrat to win election to the U.S. Senate from Texas was Lloyd Bentsen (D) in 1988. In 2024, incumbent Ted Cruz (R) defeated Colin Allred (D) 53.1%–44.6%. In 2020, Cornyn defeated M.J. Hegar (D) 53.5%–43.9%.
15th Congressional District: Incumbent Monica De La Cruz (R) and Bobby Pulido (D) are running. Major election forecasters have rated the election as lean/tilt Republican or a toss-up. In 2024, before district lines were redrawn, De La Cruz was elected 57.1%–42.9%. President Donald Trump (R) won 59% to 41% in the 2024 presidential election in the district. The Downballot estimated that Trump would have defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris (D) 58.5% to 40.7% in the new version of the district.
28th Congressional District: Incumbent Henry Cuellar (D), Tano Tijerina (R), and Marlon Duran (G) are running. Major election forecasters have rated the election as lean/Tilt Democratic or likely Democratic. In 2024, before district lines were redrawn, Cuellar was elected 52.8% to 47.2%. Trump won 53% to 46% in the 2024 presidential election in the district. The Downballot estimated that Trump would have won 54.8% to 44.5% in the new version of the district. This is one of 23 U.S. House districts Democrats are defending that Trump won in 2024.
34th Congressional District: Incumbent Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D), Eric Flores (R), Eddie Espinoza (G), and Chris Royal (L) are running. Major election forecasters have rated the election as lean Democratic or a toss-up. In 2024, before district lines were redrawn, Gonzalez Jr. was elected 51.3% to 48.7%. Trump won 52% to 47% in the 2024 presidential election in the district. The Downballot estimated that Trump would have won 54.7% to 44.5% in the new version of the district. This is also one of 23 U.S. House districts Democrats are defending that Trump won in 2024.
Statewide ballot measures
Texas voters will not decide on any statewide ballot measures in November. Since the adoption of its current constitution in 1876, voters have decided on 729 measures — all constitutional amendments. Of those, 548 (75.2%) were approved and 181 (24.8%) were defeated. The average number of measures on an even-numbered year ballot was between four and five. The Legislature meets in odd-numbered years, and as a result, the average number of measures on odd-numbered year ballots is higher at eight measures. For more information about the history of Texas’s ballot measures, visit its Historical Measures Factbook.
Ballotpedia is covering local ballot measures in the 100 most populous cities in the U.S. this year. Thirteen of those cities are in Texas. We are also covering measures related to electoral systems, like ranked-choice voting, and data centers outside of the largest cities. To learn more about the local measures we’re covering in Texas, click here.
Join us tomorrow when we'll preview elections in Connecticut, the Constitution State.
Click here to see every edition of 50 States in 50 Days as we publish them, and here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool.
U.S. Supreme Court allows use of expanded SAVE system ahead of the November elections
On Sept. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed a lower court ruling that blocked the federal government from using an expanded version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system for voter registration and list maintenance. The SAVE system provides information about individuals' immigration and citizenship status.
The interim docket ruling allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to grant states access to the expanded version of SAVE ahead of the 2026 election.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which runs SAVE, describes the database as providing "point in time immigration status and U.S. citizenship information to federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies.” USCIS is a division of DHS.
In 2025, President Donald Trump (R) issued an executive order requiring DHS to give state and local election officials free access to "appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered."
In response, USCIS made changes to SAVE, including pulling Social Security Administration records into the database and allowing states to conduct bulk searches.
In September 2025, the League of Women Voters and other parties filed a class action complaint, alleging the changes to the database violated federal law. On June 22, 2026, Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked DHS from allowing states to access the expanded version of SAVE. Sooknanan said the changes violated federal data privacy laws and statutes governing administrative rules and regulations.
The U.S. Department of Justice appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which ruled 2-1 to deny the request to stay the decision. The federal government then sought a stay from the Supreme Court.
In an unsigned order, a majority of justices said that, on the merits, they would likely reverse the district court's ruling that the modified version of SAVE violated federal law. In addition, the order said that the lower court order would harm the federal government's ability to respond to inquiries from states and that it “inhibits the Federal Government’s efforts to assist state and local agencies in the proper administration of the midterm elections.”
The order said that while the National Voter Registration Act prohibits states from using “any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” within 90 days of a federal election, the modified SAVE database could still be used to search for individual voters.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she believes the modified database violates federal law and that “the harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take.”
Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent.
Nationally, 28 states have registered with the federal government to use SAVE for voter list maintenance or voter registration. Of those 28 states, 22 have Republican trifectas, two have Democratic trifectas, and four have divided government.
Some states have statutes requiring SAVE or other government data to be used to regularly check the citizenship status of registered voters or of individuals registering to vote for the first time. Currently, 27 states have statutes that require or authorize election officials to obtain citizenship data from state or federal agencies as part of the voter list maintenance process.
Click here to learn more about state laws on citizenship checks during voter list maintenance.
