Early voting for the May 24th primary runoff began on Monday morning and will run through the end of this week.
The election features some repeats from the primaries held on March 1st of this year, but not all candidates are on both ballots – only elections in which no one candidate received 50% of the vote will be on the ballot.
The top two candidates in the previous election will face off, with the winner advancing to the general election in November.
Perhaps the biggest race on the list is for the state’s Attorney General, one of only two statewide races that feature runoffs on both parties’ ballots.
Democratic Party voters will choose between former ACLU lawyer Rochelle Garza and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski for a spot on the November ballot.
On the Republican side, voters will choose between the current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and George P. Bush, current Texas Land Commissioner and the nephew of former President George W. Bush and son of failed Presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
Democrats will also vote for Lieutenant Governor, deciding between State Representative Michelle Beckley of Carrollton and Mike Collier, an accountant and auditor who has never held elected office.
There is no Republican runoff election for Lieutenant Governor, as the current holder of that position, Dan Patrick, decisively won his primary election back in March.
Collier was the 2018 Democratic nominee against Patrick, losing that race by just over five percentage points in the general election. However, Patrick did not embark on a serious campaign.
Land Commissioner is the only other statewide position that features a runoff for both parties. The office is currently held by George P. Bush, who declined to run for re-election after setting his sights on the Attorney General’s office.
Democrats will choose between Sandragrace Martinez, a clinical therapist from San Antonio, and Jay Kleberg, a conservationist and rancher.
Republicans will choose between State Senator Dawn Buckingham from Travis County and Tim Westley, an educator who served in the Army in the 1990s.
Republicans are also deciding on their candidate for Railroad Commissioner, choosing between incumbent Wayne Christian and challenger Sarah Stonger, an oil and gas attorney.
Democrats must choose a State Comptroller nominee between Janet T. Dudding, an accountant, and Angel Luis Vega, a businessman and author.
Additionally, dozens of other runoffs for US House, State House, State Senate, and State Board of Education will also be held on the same ballot. These are district-level races, although some districts may not have any runoffs this time around.
It is important to note that a district’s early voting locations are different from typical polling places, so voters may need to go to another site than usual to cast their ballots.
Early voting hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information on early voting for the runoff, including sample ballots, early polling locations, a list of candidates in a particular district, or for answers to other questions, visit VoteTexas.gov.
