Vote In Texas Republican Primary

Texas Gov Abbott Signs Controversial Elections Integrity Bill Into Law

Their complaint isnt so much that Abbott is not a conservative. It’s that he’s not the hard-line conservative they believe that Texans crave particularly when compared with some Republican peers and their hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hes not Ron DeSantis, and hes not Kristi Noem, one veteran of Texas GOP politics said, referencing the governors of Florida and South Dakota whove upped their national profiles by resisting extended lockdowns, mask and vaccine mandates and other restrictions to limit the spread of Covid.

Pandemic politics are likely to play out in GOP gubernatorial primaries elsewhere, most notably in Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine already has two challengers on his right who disapprove of the cautious approach he took early in the crisis. In Texas, West is one of at least four Republicans who are already campaigning against Abbott. Also in the race are Don Huffines, a businessman and former state senator from the Dallas area who has endorsements from former Trump aide Katrina Pierson and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Chad Prather, a conservative comedian and commentator for BlazeTV and Paul Belew, a criminal defense attorney running with a television-inspired Better Call Paul slogan.

Dave Carney, Abbotts political strategist, said he takes nothing for granted but is not worried at all about challenges from the right.

Why Are Primary Elections Important

Jim Henson: These elections offer the public a chance to participate in the selection of candidates who will represent their political parties. Prior to the widespread adoptions of primary elections, political parties methods of selecting candidates were frequently dominated by party elites with little direct input from voters.

Here Are The Texas Gop’s Reasons For Voting Restrictions And Why Critics Disagree

“This is a preventative measure for us,” state Rep. Travis Clardy says of the Republican-backed Senate Bill 7, which sought to tighten voting rules, citing a need to prevent fraud. Here, opponents of the bill hold a rally last month at the Texas Capitol in Austin.hide caption

toggle caption

“This is a preventative measure for us,” state Rep. Travis Clardy says of the Republican-backed Senate Bill 7, which sought to tighten voting rules, citing a need to prevent fraud. Here, opponents of the bill hold a rally last month at the Texas Capitol in Austin.

Texas Republicans say their controversial move to tighten voter restrictions is sorely needed to prevent fraud. But the few examples of fraud they cite have been out of proportion to the sweeping changes included in their legislation, which seeks to reshape the way many Texans exercise their fundamental democratic right.

Senate Bill 7 is now effectively dead after Democrats walked out of the Texas Capitol in a quorum-busting maneuver that prevented a final vote on the bill. But Republicans plan to call a special session of the state Legislature to revive their push for new controls.

“Election integrity legislation will pass during the special session. Period,” House Speaker Dade Phelan said late Monday.

Recommended Reading: Republican Standing

Texas Governor Moves State Sharply To The Right Ahead Of 2022 Election

– Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision to bar private companies from enforcing COVID-19 vaccine mandates is the latest sign he is betting the state’s electorate remains solidly Republican ahead of his re-election bid next year.

In recent months, Abbott has backed a series of measures that have pulled Texas sharply to the right, including the country’s most restrictive abortion ban, a raft of voting limits, an effort to fund a border wall, restrictions on transgender student athletes and expanded gun rights.

His executive order on Monday banning private employers and other entities from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates is in direct conflict https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/texas-vaccine-mandate-ban-likely-be-trumped-by-federal-law-could-cause-2021-10-13 with the Biden administration’s plan to require shots for workers.

Democrats have made political gains in Texas on the strength of rapidly growing metropolitan areas such as Houston and Austin. But with the two-term governor facing a pair of intraparty challengers in a March primary, Abbott’s moves appear aimed at energizing the Republican base rather than appealing to swing voters and moderate Democrats.

“He’s taking a more aggressive approach,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas-based Republican political consultant. “These are all ways to shore up conservative voters in the state.”

Abbott’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

CONSERVATIVE BONA FIDES

Independents Other Third Parties Or Party Unknown

Publicly expressed interest

As of September 2021, individuals in this section have expressed an interest in running for president within the previous six months.

• Kanye West, recording artist, businessman, and fashion designer independent candidate for president in 2020

• Rapper

Recommended Reading: Republicans And Democrats Switched Platforms

Whats Different About Primaries In Texas Versus Other States

JH: Texas is one of 15 states with what is often called an open primary. In Texas open primary system, voters dont register with a party ahead of time, as is required in some states. Instead voters choose a party when they go to their polling place and request a ballot.

However, most voters interested enough to vote in a primary election can be expected to be loyal to one of the parties and have decided what primary they will be voting in long before they walk into their polling place.

Arizona Republicans Enact Sweeping Changes To State’s Early Voting List

Earlier versions of SB 7 would also have required disabled voters to produce proof of their status, such as documents from the Social Security Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs. But that provision was later cut. The original requirements would have been unfeasible for many disabled people and would have exposed counties and the state to expensive lawsuits, according to Lauren Gerken, public policy analyst at the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities, a state agency.

What supporters say: It’s meant to cut down on fraud

SB 7 was introduced on March 11, titled the Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021. Its stated purpose is “to detect and punish fraud.” But the legislation’s backers have not been able to point to many specific examples of problems they want to fix.

In April, Hughes was asked to list the places where election fraud had occurred in Texas. Rather than echo former President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 vote, he pointed to the previous midterm election.

“In my district over in East Texas, I have a county commissioner under felony indictment … over mail ballot fraud from the 2018 election cycle,” Hughes told Amarillo TV station ABC 7.

“That case in Gregg County involved 38 ballots” that were questioned, the station’s Morgan Duerden noted.

What critics say: There is no widespread fraud

What supporters say:It’s meant to inspire confidence in the voting process

Also Check: Did Donald Trump Say Republicans Are The Dumbest Group Of Voters

You Can Find More Information On How To Vote Here

Jim Henson directs the Texas Politics Project, a collection of enterprises designed to encourage informed interest and engagement in Texas politics and government. In that role, he founded and co-directs the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, the only open-access, public survey of public opinion in Texas. The data sets for those surveys are available in the polling section of the Texas Politics website.

He also writes about politics for The Texas Tribune and is a frequent resource for news media, researchers, and civic and interest groups on Texas politics and government. He also coordinates the Government Departments internship program. He is the principal author of Texas Politics, a webtext that incorporates original media and polling data, that is used in introductory Texas government courses across the state.

He also serves as associate director of the College of Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services unit at UT, where he has helped produce several award-winning instructional media projects.

Hes on Twitter at .

Find Out Whos On Your Ballot Based On Where You Live

Youâll also see county and local elections on your ballot. Sample ballots for specific counties can be found on the list of county websites maintained by the Texas secretary of stateâs office.

Below, weâve listed every race in the Democratic and Republican primary elections and highlighted 45 of the most interesting and competitive âRaces to Watch in the U.S. House and State House.

Don’t Miss: How Many Senate Seats Do The Republicans Have

Republican Presidential Primary Vote Choice

• More

  Respondents who indicated that they will be voting in the Republican Primary election were asked, “If the 2016 Republican primary election for president were held today, which of the following possible candidates would you vote for, haven’t you though about it enough to have an opinion?”

• More

  Respondents who indicated that they will be voting in the Republican Primary election were asked, “If the 2016 Republican primary election for president were held today, which of the following possible candidates would you vote for, haven’t you though about it enough to have an opinion?” Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.

• More

  Respondents who indicated that they will be voting in the Republican Primary election were asked, “If the 2016 Republican primary election for president were held today, which of the following possible candidates would you vote for, haven’t you though about it enough to have an opinion?” The ideology measure is based on respondent self-placement in response to the following question: “On a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 is extremely liberal, 7 is extremely conservative, and 4 is exactly in the middle, where would you place yourself?” The placements are further classified such that 1 is extremely liberal, 2 is very liberal, 3 is somewhat liberal, 4 is moderate, 5 is somewhat conservative, 6 is very conservative, and 7 is extremely conservative.

Context Of The 2020 Elections

Texas Party Control: 1992-2021Three years of Democratic trifectas Nineteen years of Republican trifectasScroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

See also: Republican Party of Texas

Texas has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governors office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. As of November 1, 2021, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

In the 2020 election, Republicans had a net gain of two trifectas and two states under divided government became trifectas. Prior to that election, Texas had a Republican trifecta. There were 21 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 14 divided governments.

Don’t Miss: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

Weighing Reelection Bid Gop Texas Sen Kel Seliger Confronts Redrawn District Trump Endorsement Of Primary Challenger

Texas Tribune

, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Heading into election season, Amarillo state Sen. Kel Seliger says he feels like members of his own party might be using redistricting to oust him after years of tension with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a fellow Republican.

Seliger is deciding whether he will even run for reelection, but if he does, he is now staring down perhaps his toughest primary yet.

He has received two primary challengers, including Kevin Sparks, a Midland oilman who previously served on the board of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Austin-based conservative think tank. Meanwhile, Seligers district was redrawn by his Republican colleagues in the Senate in a way that he says is designed to hobble a potential reelection bid.

And on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump, a close ally of Patrick, endorsed Sparks and bashed Seliger as a RINO Republican in name only in a rare intervention in a Texas legislative race by the former president.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Seliger offered only five words in response to the endorsement: It comes as no surprise.

This map doesnt serve the purpose that was sought because these are rural counties, and I almost always win all the rural counties, Seliger said.

Patricks chief political strategist, Allen Blakemore, scoffed at Seligers claims in a statement Wednesday.

United States Presidential Election

• e

The 2024 United States presidential election will be the 60th quadrennial presidential election, scheduled for Tuesday, November 5, 2024. It will be the first presidential election after electoral votes are redistributed according to the post2020 censusreapportionment. Incumbent president Joe Biden has stated that he intends to run for reelection to a second term.

In the United States, general elections follow caucuses and primary elections held by the major parties to determine their nominees. The winner of the 2024 presidential election is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

Also Check: How Many States Are Controlled By Republicans

His Announcement Makes For The 18th Lawmaker Not Seeking Re

On Friday, State Rep. Kyle Biedermann announced he would not be seeking re-election to the Texas House of Representatives.

Biedermann was first elected in 2016, ousting the incumbent liberal Republican Doug Miller. He currently represents Texas House District 73, which encompasses Gillespie, Kendall, and Comal counties.

In the wake of the recently concluded decennial redistricting process, new political boundaries were approved for the next decade, and District 73 was changed to only include Comal County and a portion of Hays County. Kendall and Gillespie counties were drawn into a new House District 19.

Over the past few weeks, other candidates have emerged for the newly drawn House District 73 and House District 19.

Former Austin City Councilwoman Ellen Troxclair suspended her initial campaign for Senate to instead run for House District 19. A short time thereafter, Austin police officer Justin Berry announced that he was also running for the seat, even though he had announced back in March he intended to again challenge State Rep. Vikki Goodwin for House District 47.

Carrie Isaac, who was a Republican challenger to State Rep. Erin Zwiener in the last election cycle, announced weeks ago that she was running for the Republican nomination in the redrawn House District 73.

This would have meant that Biedermann would have had to go through a Republican primary election in either district, as he also had a residence in Comal County.

Legislative Tenure

So How Does That Compare

Voters who live in states with closed primaries are required to register with a political party in order to vote in that partys primary. If you wanted to vote in the Republican primary in New York, you have to register as a Republican. Oftentimes, third-party voters are locked out of the Republican and Democratic primaries. But some states, like Oklahoma, are a bit of a hybrid and let independent voters choose which primaries they want to participate in.

Also Check: What Did The Radical Republicans Believe

How The Primary Works

A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party’s candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Texas utilizes an open primary system. Voters do not have to register with a party in advance in order to participate in that party’s primary. The voter must sign a pledge stating the following :

Texas Primary Elections: What They Are And Why They Matter

Texas holds primary elections tomorrow. Heres what you need to know about them, according to Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project and UT/Texas Tribune Poll.

The eyes of the nation are on Texas and our primary elections, but why?

Texas primary is the first state primary of the 2018 midterm election season. Voters will select candidates competing to represent the political parties in the general election Nov. 6.

For nonpoliticos, trying understanding why that is important may raise some questions.

Whos on the ballot? What could these elections mean for Texas? What could they mean for the nation?

To provide some answers ahead of the March 6 primary election day, we talked to Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at UT and co-director of the UT/Texas Tribune Poll on Texas politics.

Also Check: Republicans And Democrats Difference

United States Presidential Election In Texas

The 2016 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election. Primary elections were held on March 1, 2016.

Texas was won by RepublicanDonald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence by a 9% margin over DemocratsHillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. The Lone Star State assigned its 38 Electoral College votes to the state’s popular vote winner, but two faithless electors chose other candidates, making Texas the only state in 2016 to give Trump fewer than the assigned electoral votes. Even then, its 36 electoral votes were Trump’s largest electoral prize in 2016.

When the Electoral College met on December 19, 2016, only 36 out of the 38 electors voted for Trump for president. Two electors defected Christopher Suprun voted for Ohio Governor John Kasich, and the other voted for Congressman Ron Paul. For vice president, 37 electors voted for Pence, while Suprun voted for Carly Fiorina. This was the first time since 1976 where a Republican presidential candidate lost a pledged vote via a faithless elector that year, Gerald Ford lost a Washington state electoral vote to fellow Republican Ronald Reagan. Additionally, this was the first time since 1972 that the winning presidential candidate lost an electoral vote, when Richard Nixon lost a Virginia electoral vote to Libertarian Party nominee John Hospers.