Pat Curry Wins Reelection in Texas House District 56

The incumbent Republican defeated Democrat Ashley Bean Thornton, earning 61.03% of the vote in the district.

Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a simplified black dome silhouette against a deep red field, evoking Texas state legislative politics. — Republican Pat Curry won reelection to Texas House District 56 on Tuesday, defeating Democrat Ashley Bean Thornton with 61.03% of the vote. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Republican Pat Curry won reelection to the Texas House District 56 seat, defeating Democrat Ashley Bean Thornton. Curry received 42,125 votes to Thornton's 26,899.

Why it matters

Curry's win keeps the District 56 seat in Republican hands for another term in the Texas Legislature. Curry said high voter engagement and turnout drove his lead in early voting and on Election Day.

Curry captured 61.03% of the total vote, a margin of 15,226 votes over Thornton. The extraction does not detail any changes to voting rules or turnout figures beyond Curry's attribution of his lead to high engagement.

The players

Pat Curry

Pat Curry is a Republican businessman and Urban Air franchisee who represents Texas House District 56 in the state legislature.

Ashley Bean Thornton

Ashley Bean Thornton is the Democratic candidate who lost the District 56 race to Pat Curry.

The details

Curry, a businessman and Urban Air franchisee first elected in 2024, led in early voting and on Election Day. The McLennan County Republican Party celebrated the result Tuesday night at Urban Air Adventure Trampoline Park in Richland Mall.

2018: Mike Schofield lost the House District 132 race by 113 votes.
2024: Curry was first elected to the Texas House.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: Curry's reelection was decided and celebrated at a victory party.

Political Context

Curry's 15,226-vote margin stands in sharp contrast to Mike Schofield's 2018 defeat in House District 132, which was decided by just 113 votes. Together the two races show how narrowly contested Texas House seats in McLennan County have been in recent cycles.

Texas residents in House District 56 will be represented by Curry for another legislative term, with his priorities tied to the path he began in 2024. The result sets the district's representation for the next legislative session.

The takeaway

Curry's reelection shows that voter engagement and turnout can drive a comfortable margin in a district that was once closely fought. Readers following Texas politics can watch how his second term unfolds in the Legislature.