Four Republican candidates are running for Texas lieutenant governor—the second-in-command to the governor—in the upcoming March 3 primary election.
The big picture
Republican incumbent Dan Patrick is seeking a fourth term in the lieutenant governor's office. The lieutenant governor leads the Texas Senate and can exercise the powers of the governor if the governor dies, resigns, is removed from office or is absent from the state, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
Patrick is challenged by three Republican candidates: Timothy Mabry, Perla Muñoz Hopkins and Esala Wueschner. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes in the Republican primary, a runoff election will be held between the two top vote-getters May 26.
The winning Republican candidate will face the winner of the Democratic nomination in November. The winner of that election will be sworn in for a four-year term in January 2027.
Information about the Democratic candidates for Texas lieutenant governor is available here.
Something to note
A spokesperson for Patrick's campaign shared the following statement with Community Impact. After several attempts, Community Impact was unable to reach Patrick's campaign to further discuss the questionnaire.
As Patrick and his team did not return a completed questionnaire, Community Impact is publishing the statement to reflect his perspective for voters: "Texans know where Lt. Gov. Patrick stands on the issues that matter to the people of Texas, including those you raise in your questionnaire. The most current information about his positions is available on his campaign website, www.danpatrick.org, as well as his official website, www.ltgov.state.tx.us."
Preparing for the polls
Early voting begins Feb. 17 for March primary races across Texas, including 18 statewide races and various local races. Registered voters may cast ballots in either Texas’ Republican or Democratic primary, but not both. Third-party candidates will appear on the ballot in November.
For more coverage of state and local races, visit communityimpact.com/election.
Zooming in
Community Impact gave all candidates running for contested statewide offices more than three weeks to complete the primary election questionnaire and communicated with their campaigns periodically. Community Impact's goal with election Q&As is to provide a side-by-side, equitable resource for Texas voters to review candidates' perspectives as they prepare to head to the polls.
To ensure that candidates are the ones defining their positions in Community Impact's voter guide, if candidates did not complete the questionnaire after multiple attempts to contact them, the website reads "candidate did not respond to questionnaire before press time." Candidates were informed of this policy.
Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been minimally edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
* indicates incumbent candidate
