2020 Texas elections
Texas state elections in 2020 were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Its primaries were held on March 3, 2020, with runoffs taking place on July 14.[ 1]
In addition to the U.S. presidential race , Texas voters elected the Class II U.S. senator from Texas, one of three members of the Texas Railroad Commission , eight of 15 members of the Texas Board of Education , all of its seats to the House of Representatives , four of nine seats on the Supreme Court of Texas , three of nine seats on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals , 21 of 80 seats on the Texas Appellate Courts, all of the seats of the Texas House of Representatives and 17 of 34 seats in the Texas State Senate .
To vote by mail , registered Texas voters had to request a ballot by October 23, 2020.[ 2] [ 3] [ 4]
Federal
President of the United States
Texas has 38 electoral votes in the Electoral College .
United States Class II Senate Seat
United States House of Representatives
There were 36 U.S. Representatives in Texas up for election in addition to six open seats.[ 5]
Executive
Railroad Commissioner
2020 Texas Railroad Commissioner election
Republican primary
Nominee
Eliminated in primary
Primary results
Democratic primary
Nominee
Chrysta Castañeda, oil and energy industry attorney[ 9]
Eliminated in runoff
Eliminated in primary
Kelly Stone, environmental activist[ 11]
Mark Watson, attorney[ 7]
Primary results
Runoff results
General election
Polling
Results
State Board of Education
eight of 15 seats of the Texas Board of Education were up for election. Before the election the composition of that board was:
Party
# of seats
Republican
10
Democratic
5
Total
15
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
Libertarian convention
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
Libertarian convention
General election
Republican primary
Libertarian convention
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
Libertarian convention
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
Republican primary
Democratic primary
General election
Judicial
Supreme Court of Texas
Chief Justice
2020 Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice election
Incumbent Chief Justice Nathan Hecht ran for re-election to his last term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s)
Sample[ a]
Margin
Nathan
Amy Clark
Other
Undecided
YouGov /University of Houston [ 14] October 13–20, 2020
1,000 (LV)
± 3.1%
48%
40%
3%[ d]
9%
Results
Place 6
2020 Texas Supreme Court Place 6 election
Incumbent Justice Jane Bland was appointed by Governor Abbott in 2019 to replace Jeff Brown . Justice Bland ran to finish the remainder of Brown's term ending in 2024.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Kathy Cheng, civil and commercial litigation attorney[ 23]
Larry Praeger, family law attorney[ 24]
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s)
Sample[ a]
Margin
Jane
Kathy
Undecided
YouGov /University of Houston [ 14] October 13–20, 2020
1,000 (LV)
± 3.1%
49%
40%
11%
Results
Place 7
2020 Texas Supreme Court Place 7 election
Incumbent Justice Jeff Boyd ran for re-election to a second six-year term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
General election
Results
Place 8
2020 Texas Supreme Court Place 8 election
Incumbent Justice Brett Busby ran for a full six-year term after being appointed by Governor Abbott in 2019 due to the retirement of Phil Johnson .
Republican primary
Candidates
Brett Busby, incumbent Associate Justice[ 27]
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
General election
Results
Court of Criminal Appeals
Place 3
2020 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 election
Incumbent Judge Bert Richardson ran for re-election to a second six-year term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
William Pieratt Demond, constitutional rights attorney[ 30]
Elizabeth Davis Frizell, former Judge of the Dallas County Criminal District Court (2007–2017)[ 30]
Dan Wood, Terrell -based appellate attorney[ 31]
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s)
Sample[ a]
Margin
Bert
Elizabeth
Undecided
YouGov /University of Houston [ 14] October 13–20, 2020
1,000 (LV)
± 3.1%
48%
38%
14%
Results
Place 4
2020 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 4 election
Incumbent Judge Kevin Yeary ran for re-election to a second six-year term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
General election
Results
Place 9
2020 Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 9 election
Incumbent Judge David Newell ran for re-election to a second six-year term.
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
General election
Results
Legislature
All 150 seats of the Texas House of Representatives and 16 of 31 seats of the Texas State Senate were up for election.
Senate
Before the election, the composition of the state senate was:
Party
# of seats
Republican
19
Democratic
12
Total
31
After the election, the composition of the state senate was:
Party
# of seats
Republican
18
Democratic
13
Total
31
House of Representatives
Before and after the election, the composition of the state house was:
Party
# of seats
Republican
83
Democratic
67
Total
150
See also
Notes
^ a b c d Key:
^ Sterett (L) with 3%; Gruene (G) with 1%
^ Sterett (L) with 8%
^ Mark Ash (L) with 3%
Partisan clients
^ Poll sponsored by Castañeda's campaign
References
^ "Texas elections, 2020" . Ballotpedia . Retrieved August 21, 2020 .^ Lily Hay Newman (August 27, 2020), "How to Vote by Mail and Make Sure It Counts" , Wired.com the original on October 6, 2020 ^ Ura, Alexa (June 26, 2020). "U.S. Supreme Court declines Texas Democrats' request to allow all Texans to vote by mail" . The Texas Tribune . Retrieved February 18, 2021 . ^ Application for a Ballot by Mail ^ "Live: Texas State Primary Election Results 2020" . The New York Times . June 29, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020 .^ Chapa, Sergio (March 5, 2020). "Railroad Commission candidate may have had the Wright name" . Houston Chronicle ^ a b Price, Asher (February 17, 2020). "Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton faces primary opponent" . Austin American-Statesman ^ a b c d e f g h "Official Canvass Report - 2020 March 3rd Republican Primary" (PDF) . Texas Secretary of State ^ Svitek, Patrick (October 16, 2019). "Dallas attorney Chrysta Castañeda to challenge Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton" . The Texas Tribune ^ Buchele, Mose (July 1, 2020). "Meet The Two Democrats Who Want To Run For Railroad Commission" . KUT ^ "Voter Guide - Kelly Stone" . The Dallas Morning News ^ a b c d e f g h "Official Canvass Report - 2020 March 3rd Democratic Primary" (PDF) . Texas Secretary of State ^ "Official Canvass Report - 2020 July 14th Democratic Primary Runoff" (PDF) . Texas Secretary of State ^ a b c d YouGov/University of Houston ^ Data for Progress (D) ^ Global Strategy Group (D) ^ a b c d e f g h "Official Canvass Report - 2020 November 3rd General Election" (PDF) . Texas Secretary of State ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Texas 2020 election results" . November 3, 2020.^ Morris, Angela (January 6, 2020). "Chief Justice's Election Bid Puts Spotlight on Texas' Mandatory Judicial Retirement" . law.com . ^ Autullo, Ryan (October 2, 2019). "Travis district court Judge Clark Meachum eyes top spot on Texas Supreme Court" . Austin American-Statesman ^ Platoff, Emma (February 14, 2020). "Judge calls opponent "selfish" for wanting to "break barriers" as first elected female chief justice of Texas Supreme Court" . Texas Tribune ^ Platoff, Emma (August 26, 2019). "Gov. Greg Abbott selects former appeals court judge Jane Bland for Texas Supreme Court" . Texas Tribune ^ a b c Lindell, Chuck (February 17, 2020). "Suddenly, Democrats flush with candidates for 2 top courts" . Austin American-Statesman ^ "We recommend Larry Praeger in Democratic primary for Supreme Court, Place 6 [Editorial]" . The Houston Chronicle ^ "Brandy Voss Seeks Place 7 on the Texas Supreme Court" . Texas Border Business . July 15, 2019.^ "In the Democratic Primary for Texas Supreme Court Place 7, here's our recommendation" . January 24, 2020.^ "Voter Guide - Brett Busby" . The Dallas Morning News ^ "Justice Gisela Triana announces run for Texas Supreme Court" . The Orange Leader ^ a b Platoff, Emma (February 26, 2020). "This judge refused to toss Rick Perry's indictment. Now Perry is backing his opponent in Court of Criminal Appeals race" . Texas Tribune ^ a b Bingamon, Brant (February 21, 2020). "Balancing the Scales of Justice on Texas' Most Important Courts" . The Austin Chronicle ^ "Voter Guide - Dan Wood" . The Dallas Morning News ^ "Voter Guide - Kevin Patrick Yeary" . The Dallas Morning News ^ a b "In the Democratic primary for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 4, here's our recommendation" . The Dallas Morning News ^ "Voter Guide - David Newell" . The Dallas Morning News ^ "Voter Guide - Brandon Birmingham" . The Dallas Morning News ^ Brent Kendall; Alexa Corse (October 11, 2020), "Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio See Court Rulings Over Mail Ballots" , The Wall Street Journal Both political parties are mounting legal challenges across many states, with mail-in voting at the center ^ "Covered Areas for Voting Rights Bilingual Election Materials—2015" , Voting Rights Act Amendments of 2006, Determinations Under Section 203 , Federal Register , retrieved October 13, 2020 , A Notice by the Census Bureau on 12/05/2016
Further reading
Nick Corasaniti; Stephanie Saul ; Patricia Mazzei (September 13, 2020), "Big Voting Decisions in Florida, Wisconsin, Texas: What They Mean for November" , The New York Times , archived from the original on September 13, 2020, Both parties are waging legal battles around the country over who gets to vote and how David Weigel ; Lauren Tierney (September 22, 2020), "The 50 political states of America" , Washingtonpost.com the original on October 11, 2020, Texas "Texas governor cuts back on voting locations weeks before election" , BBC News Texas' governor has ordered that voters can drop off their mail-in ballots at only one location per county Elise Viebeck (October 2, 2020), "Voting rights advocates sue to block Texas governor's order limiting counties to one ballot drop-off location" , Washingtonpost.com "US election 2020: Texas judge blocks postal voting restrictions" , BBC News "Voter suppression: At risk of losing Texas, Republicans scheme to limit Democratic votes" , Economist.com Michelle Ye Hee Lee ; Amy Gardner; Brittney Martin (October 14, 2020), "Early voting begins in Texas with high turnout, despite new legal developments on voting access" , The Washington Post Dan Balz (October 18, 2020), "Texas is the most intriguing political state in the country this fall" , The Washington Post
External links
Elections Division at the Texas Secretary of State official websiteTexas at Ballotpedia Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Texas" , Voting & Elections Toolkits "Texas: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links" , Vote.org University of Texas Libraries , "Voting and Elections" , Research Guides "League of Women Voters of Texas" .League of Women Voters )Texas 2019 & 2020 Elections OpenSecrets "Election Guides: Texas" , Spreadthevote.org (in English and Spanish), archived from the original on October 4, 2020, retrieved October 7, 2020 "State Elections Legislation Database" , Ncsl.org , Washington, D.C.: National Conference of State Legislatures , State legislation related to the administration of elections introduced in 2011 through this year, 2020
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