who is the senator of the state of texas?
John Cornyn
contradiction
 Texas has a plural executive branch system limiting the power of the governor , which is a weak executive compared to some other states . Except for the Secretary of State , voters elect executive officers independently ; thus candidates are directly answerable to the public , not the governor . This election system has led to some executive branches split between parties and reduced the ability of the governor to carry out a program . When Republican President George W. Bush served as Texas 's governor , the state had a Democratic lieutenant governor , Bob Bullock . The executive branch positions consist of the Governor , Lieutenant Governor , Comptroller of Public Accounts , Land Commissioner , Attorney General , Agriculture Commissioner , the three @-@ member Texas Railroad Commission , the State Board of Education , and the Secretary of State . 

entailment
 More recently Tilman J. Fertitta , part of the Maceo bloodline , established the Landry 's Restaurants corporation , which owns numerous restaurants and entertainment venues in Texas and Nevada . Kay Bailey Hutchison was the senior senator from Texas and the first female Texas senator . 

entailment
 The bicameral Texas Legislature consists of the House of Representatives , with 150 members , and a Senate , with 31 members . The Speaker of the House leads the House , and the lieutenant governor , the Senate . The Legislature meets in regular session biennially for just over 100 days , but the governor can call for special sessions as often as desired ( notably , the Legislature cannot call itself into session ) . The state 's fiscal year spans from the previous calendar year 's September 1 to the current year 's August 31 . Thus , the FY 2015 dates from September 1 , 2014 through August 31 , 2015 . 

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 As of the general elections of 2014 , a large majority of the members of Texas 's U.S. House delegation are Republican , along with both U.S. Senators . In the 114th United States Congress , of the 36 Congressional districts in Texas , 25 are held by Republicans and 11 by Democrats . Texas 's Senators are John Cornyn and Ted Cruz . Since 1994 , Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office . The state 's Democratic voters are made up primarily by liberal and minority groups in Austin , San Antonio , Dallas , Houston , Beaumont , and El Paso , as well as minority voters in East Texas and South Texas . 

neutral
 Although the Texas Legislature typically meets once every two years , a fire destroyed the state capitol building in November 1881 , and Ross was called to serve in a special session in April 1882 . The session agreed to build a new capitol building . Near the end of the special session , the Senate passed a reapportionment bill , which reduced Ross 's four @-@ year term to only two years . He declined to run again . 
