By Maria Mendez
Texans will have more of a say over who their state elected officials will be during the 2026 primaries.
Texas Republican and Democrat voters will pick which candidate they want to represent their interests and their party on the ballot for the November general election. In a state where Republicans dominate state government and where many legislative and congressional districts often are drawn to favor them, the primaries are often very significant. Yet, only a fraction of citizens in Texas vote in primary elections.
There are more than 18 statewide elected officials up for election, along with Texas’ members of Congress, state lawmakers, district-based judges and local elected officials. With the new congressional maps redrawn to boost the number of Texas Republicans in Congress, some Texans will have to vote in new congressional districts.
Here’s what you need to know about primaries and the voting process. Stay tuned for more guides about candidates in the following weeks. In the meantime, you can use this tool to see how state lawmakers – some of which are up for election this year – voted on major bills in the past legislative session.
Here’s what you need to know.
- How do primaries work?
- What’s on the ballot?
- What dates do I need to know?
- What do I need to know about voter registration requirements?
- What do I need to know about mail-in voting?
- What do I need to know about going to the polls?
- How can I make sure my ballot is counted?
How do primaries work?
The election will be on March 3. In each race, the candidate who wins more than half of the votes will face the winning candidate from the other party in the November general election. If no candidate gets a majority of votes in a race, the top two vote-getters will head to a runoff election on May 26. You don’t have to register with a party. But you can only participate in one party’s primary, and you’ll only be able to vote in that party’s subsequent runoff election.
You can use our ballot lookup tool to see what state and federal elections you can vote in based on your address. Votes can’t be cast in uncontested statewide races, which will be listed separately on the ballot after races with multiple candidates. You can also use this tool to see how some Congressional districts changed in 2025 due to redistricting. (Don’t worry: We don’t store your information.)
Republicans redrew Congressional districts last year, in an effort to gain more seats. The U.S. House districts shown below are based on those new maps.
