 Burton then defeated the Democratic nominee, Libby Willis, who carried Wendy Davis's support, 95,484 votes (53%) to 80,806 (45%), retaking the Senate seat for the Republicans.Burton is a member of the Higher Education, Criminal Justice, Nominations, and Veteran Affairs & Military Installations committees, and serves as vice-chair of the latter committee.A Rice University Baker Institute study of Texas Senate roll-call votes from January 2011 to May 2017 showed that Burton was the most conservative member of the Texas Senate.