Texas’ governor and Senate races swallowed up most of the media attention during the 2026 midterm elections
Democrats are poised to take an 8-7 majority in the Texas State Board of Education, which would be their first majority since 1994, if a razor-thin lead in the final race holds.
If this happens, we can expect to see the board push back on many of the educational priorities Republicans have pursued while they dominated the entity.
From University Herald:
Democrats are poised to take an 8-7 majority on the 15-member Texas State Board of Education, their first majority since 1994, if a razor-thin lead in the last uncalled race holds, according to University Herald.
The victories followed months of debate over school vouchers, Bible-based classroom materials, new social studies standards, and the treatment of students involved in protests against immigration enforcement.
These issues helped bring parents, teachers, and other voters into the election, including people who had not been politically active before.
Michelle Palmer, a high school history and government teacher, won her race for the state education board after losing two previous campaigns. She said the response from voters was different this time because more people were speaking out about the direction of public education.
"I was hearing from day one from people who had not really been politically active before that they were worried about education," Palmer said.
Texas Democrats have sworn to revisit the state's Bible reading mandate.
— Secular Coalition for America (@seculardotorg) November 6, 2026
If they control the State Board of Education, they can remove the unconstitutional lessons. https://t.co/IPAe36nDkY
Republicans held an 11-4 majority before the election.
Palmer said, “People don’t like for their kids to be messed with.”
Thomas Ray Garcia, another Democrat member, said, “Public education was on the ballot, and voters made their voices clear.”
The Republican majority approved the state’s first required reading list, including Bible passages, and a revamp of the social studies curriculum.
The required reading list contains 14 Bible stories or passages among its selections, which prompted criticism from those claiming this violates the First Amendment. Incoming Democrats plan to reverse many of these policies.
The board is responsible for setting curriculum standards, approving instructional materials, setting graduation requirements, and reviewing teacher certification rules for over five million Texas public school students.
However, some educational policies are out of the board’s reach. These include state law requiring the Ten Commandments posters in classrooms and the voucher program. These were passed through the legislature, which means the board cannot repeal them.
Still, with Democrats in control of the state’s education board, it’s clear that government-run schools will continue being used to influence young minds to embrace progressive ideology. Republicans in the state legislature will likely be helpless to stop them because Democrats control the state House.
What’s even more interesting is that Democrats like Palmer recognize that parents don’t want people “messing with their kids.”
Yet, Democrats had no problem using government-run schools to mess with people’s kids when they wanted them to buy into gender ideology and other pernicious ideas.
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