Early voting begins today, February 20th for the March 6th Primary with hundreds of races for statewide, congressional and legislative seats, and the State Board of Education. HillCo will continue to monitor these races and developments. See below for more detail on races including a history of voter turnout and statistics, get out the vote initiatives, and recent poll results.
Statistics
Early voting will continue until March 2nd. Jeff Blaylock with Texas Election Source writes that more than 15 million Texans are expected to skip voting in the primaries. Pointing to the 2014 primaries which determined every statewide race and 60% of the legislative and congressional seats that were uncontested or contested by a minor party. Blaylock contends that, “despite the significance of those primaries, just 14% of registered voters cast ballots.” Blaylock concludes the explanation could be that “Texas is simply a non-voting state.” Eyes will be on the upcoming primaries to see if the downward trend continues or if past voting statistics showing anemic turnout at the polls are a thing of the past.
Turnout and Voter Registration Figures (1970-current)
Early Voting Totals (1996-current)
Historical Election Results (1992-current)
First Friday Of Early Voting Period Proclaimed 'Student Voting Day' In Texas
Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos issued a proclamation designating the first Friday of the early voting period to be Student Voting Day in the State of Texas. This is a day when all eligible Texas students are urged to get out and vote.
"The State of Texas is committed to ensuring that civic participation remains a cherished tradition among all Texans, particularly those of the youngest generation," Secretary Pablos said. "With this proclamation, we are hoping to improve upon that tradition by dedicating an entire day to student participation in the electoral process. We hope to set a new tone – one that puts our students center stage, one that helps them make their voices heard. This is a call to action to all Texans to rally behind our youngest voters and help make it as easy as possible for them to cast their ballot."
Secretary Pablos' proclamation follows the very successful Secretary of State's 2017 High School Voter Registration Initiative, which resulted in the unprecedented participation of more than 800 Texas high schools who committed to assisting their eligible students in registering to vote.
Poll Results Published
The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll results have been published and the Texas Tribune has provided analysis on the results. The University of Texas/Texas Tribune internet survey of 612 Republican and 453 Democratic primary voters was conducted from Feb. 1 to Feb. 12, who were identified based on their participation in a Texas primary election in 2012, 2014, or 2016.
UT/TT Poll, February 2018 – Summary (204.2 KB) DOWNLOAD
UT/TT Poll, February 2018 – Methodology (69.2 KB) DOWNLOAD
Electioneering Concerns
Attorney General Ken Paxton dispatched letters to three school districts on Feb. 14th to halt unlawful electioneering, he stated, “My office fully encourages Texas schools to educate their students on civic duties and assist them in registering to vote. But pushing faculty or others to vote for a particular person is a clear violation of the Texas Election and Education Codes.” Paxton charges that the school districts used taxpayer resources to distribute messages to their staff and the public advocating for or against certain political candidates and measures. Senator Jose Menendez responded to Paxton’s letters asking him to retract the letter demanding Paxton, “rescind this unlawful letter immediately and stop any further attempts to bully or coerce school districts from encouraging their communities to exercise their rights to vote.”
Holliday Independent School District Superintendent Kevin Dyes responded to the cease and desist letter for illegal electioneering on Friday. In the response, Dr. Dyes noted, "It is puzzling why the Attorney General felt compelled to target Holliday ISD, a small school district in Archer County, and appears to be just another example of heavy handed politics out of Austin." Dyes also said he would comply with the request and stated Holliday ISD is encouraging everyone to vote in the March 6 primary.
Competitive Races and Incumbents with Seats on Primary Ballot
Texas Tribune has published a Texas 2018 Hotlist: The most competitive races in this year’s election noting that overall there are 215 races on the 2018 Democratic and Republican primary ballots.
The following incumbents all have upcoming races on the March 6th Primary Ballot:
Senate Republicans
SD 2 Bob Hall
SD 5 Charles Schwertner
SD 17 Joan Huffman
SD 25 Donna Campbell
SD 30 Craig Estes
SD 31 Kel Seliger
Senate Democrats
SD 15 John Whitmire
House Republicans
HD 2 Dan Flynn
HD 6 Matt Schaefer
HD 9 Chris Paddie
HD 11 Travis Clardy
HD 14 John Raney
HD 18 Ernest Bailes
HD 23 Wayne Faircloth
HD 25 Dennis Bonnen
HD 47 Paul Workman
HD 54 Scott Cosper
HD 55 Hugh Shine
HD 59 JD Sheffield
HD 60 Mike Lang
HD 64 Lynn Stucky
HD 65 Ron Simmons
HD 73 Kyle Biedermann
HD 87 Four Price
HD 88 Ken King
HD 98 Giovanni Capriglione
HD 99 Charlie Geren
HD 102 Linda Koop
HD 105 Rodney Anderson
HD 114 Jason Villalba
HD 122 Lyle Larson
HD 134 Sarah Davis
HD 150 Valoree Swanson
House Democrats
HD 27 Ron Reynolds
HD 31 Ryan Guillen
HD 37 Rene Oliveira
HD 41 Bobby Guerra
HD 46 Dawnna Dukes
HD 75 Mary Gonzalez
HD 100 Eric Johnson
HD 104 Roberto Alonzo
HD 116 Diana Arevalo
HD 117 Philip Cortez
HD 118 Tomas Uresti
HD 124 Ina Minjarez
HD 139 Jarvis Johnson
HD 142 Harold Dutton
HD 146 Shawn Thierry
HD 147 Garnet Coleman
Incumbents Leaving Open Seats for Primaries and General Election
The following state legislators have announced their plans regarding re-election and retirement – leaving open seats for the 2018 ballot.
HD 4 – Inc. Lance Gooden is running for CD 5
HD 8 – Inc. Byron Cook is not seeking re-election
HD 13 – Inc. Leighton Schubert is not seeking re-election, will retire on February 4th meaning a special election has been called see below for more details
HD 15 – Mark Keough is running for Montgomery County office
HD 45 – Inc. Jason Isaac is running for CD 21
HD 52 – Inc. Larry Gonzales is not seeking re-election
HD 62 – Inc. Larry Phillips is not seeking re-election
HD 89 – Inc. Jodie Laubenberg is not seeking re-election
HD 106 – Inc. Pat Fallon is running for SD 30
HD 109 – Inc. Helen Giddings is not seeking re-election
HD 113 – Inc. Cindy Burkett is running for SD 2
HD 121 – Inc. Speaker Joe Straus is not seeking re-election
HD 126 – Inc. Kevin Roberts is running for CD 2
SD 8 – Inc. Van Taylor is running for CD 3
In addition, 8 of Texas’ Congressional delegation are vacating their seats.
CD 2 – Inc. Ted Poe is not seeking re-election
CD 3 – Inc. Sam Johnson is not seeking re-election
CD 5 – Inc. Jeb Hensarling is not seeking re-election
CD 6 – Inc. Joe Barton is not seeking re-election
CD 16 – Inc. Beto O'Rourke is running for US Senate
CD 21 – Inc. Lamar Smith is not seeking re-election
CD 27 – Inc. Blake Farenthold has withdrawn
CD 29 – Inc. Al Green is not seeking re-election
Key Dates for Primary and November 6th 2018 Elections
March 6 Primary Elections
- Feb. 5 – Last day to register to vote in the Primaries
- Feb. 20 – First day of early voting
- Mar. 2 – Last day of early voting
- Mar. 6, 2018 – Primary Election Date
- May 14 – First day of early voting for runoff
- May 18 – Last day of early voting for runoff
- May 22, 2018 – Primary Runoffs
November 6 Uniform Election Date
- Oct. 9 – Last day to register to vote
- Oct. 22 – First day of early voting
- Nov. 2 – Last day of early voting
- Nov. 6, 2018 – General Election Date
Special Election Date Set for HD 13 Schubert
Governor Greg Abbott has issued a proclamation announcing May 5, 2018 as the special election date to fill the House District 13 seat recently vacated by Representative Leighton Schubert. The early voting period for the special election will begin April 23, 2018.