In the upcoming March 3 primary elections, Texas voters will have the opportunity to nominate their chosen candidates for the November midterm election. From top state officials to county commissioners, primary elections shape who is ultimately elected to dozens of seats, driving the future direction of the Lone Star State.
Yet less than one-fifth of registered Texas voters participated in recent primary elections, data from the secretary of state’s office shows. Voter advocacy groups and experts told Community Impact that a vote this March is “the most impactful vote” Texans can cast, due to consistently low voter turnout and competition in certain races.
“Your vote carries so much more weight in a primary election. ... This is where you are determining your statewide leadership, and it's crucial for you to come out and vote on that,” said Jordan Wat, the government affairs director for the nonpartisan think tank Texas 2036. “[Elected officials] are going to make choices that are going to impact your daily life for several years to come, and if you want a say in that, then you need to show up and speak your piece by voting.”
Keep reading for information about how Texas’ primary elections work and expert perspectives on the importance of this year’s primaries.
The big picture
Over 18 million Texans are registered to vote, per the secretary of state. A fraction of registered voters typically turn out for the primaries—about 3.3 million Texans, or 18.4% of those registered at the time, cast ballots in the 2024 presidential primaries. In 2022, the most recent midterm election, approximately 3 million voters, or 17.6% of those registered, participated in the primary elections.
A common belief among voters is that voting is about “choosing between the Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate in November,” said Mark Strama, who leads the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas. Strama teaches civic engagement courses at UT and is a former state legislator.
“In many elections for public office, the most important vote you cast is the vote in the primary,” Strama told Community Impact. “I would think if people had a real understanding of how consequential the primaries are, they would be more likely to vote in them.”
Strama said that many of Texas’ state legislative districts are drawn to be “lopsidedly Democratic or lopsidedly Republican,” meaning that the most competitive races for those seats take place in March, not November.
By the numbers
March Matters, a group that works to get more Texans to the primary polls, found that 146 of Texas’ 150 state House races were effectively decided during the 2022 primaries, with just four competitive seats during that year’s midterm election.
“All Texans deserve to be able to choose their representatives,” said Joyce LeBombard, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas. “If the competitive races are in the primary, then if you don't vote in March, it's really a small group of people that are choosing who represents all of us.”
