An overview of Texas’s 2024 Elections
Another big election year is just around the corner. In addition to the Presidential elections, Texans will vote on dozens of federal, state, and local offices (which is good since these offices offer a remedy to the looming voter apathy towards the Presidential election).
In this executive brief, we'll provide key dates, ballot insights, and a quick look at how to communicate this information to voters.
As you develop your funding and GOTV strategies for 2024, we hope this reference guide can take some work off your plate.
2024 Overview
Texas is gearing up for a significant electoral year with a multitude of races. From local offices to statewide positions, here's a concise breakdown of the elections you can anticipate:
March 5th Primaries (jump to section)
May 4th Local Elections (jump to section)
November 5th General Elections (jump to section)
At the end of the article, we outline helpful voter education strategies for 2024.
March 5th Primaries
Texas’s first big election will be March 5th, 2024. It involves all voters statewide.
Key dates:
Filing deadline: December 11th, 2023
Voter registration deadline: February 5th, 2024
Early voting window: February 20th - March 1st, 2024
Ballot by mail request window: January 1st - February 23rd, 2024
Election Day: March 5th, 2024
Runoff: May 28th, 2024
Sources: Texas Secretary of State
What’s on the ballot:
US President: Includes 8 Republican candidates (Ryan Blinkley, Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Asa Hutchinson, Vivek Ramaswamy, David Stuckenberg, and Donald Trump) and 9 Democratic candidates (Joe Biden, Gabriel Cornejo, Edward Kimbrough, Star Locke, Frankie Lozada, Mando Perez-Serrato, Dean Phillips, Cenk Uygur, and Marianne Williamson).
US Senator: Includes 3 Republican candidates (Ted Cruz, Redd Gibson, and Rufus Lopez) and 10 Democratic candidates (Colin Allred, Arron Arguijo, Meri Gomez, Mark Gonzalez, Roland Gutierrez, Robert Hassan, Steven Keough, Heli Rodriguez Primlliman, Carl Oscar Sherman, and Thierry Tchenko).
US Representative
Railroad Commissioner
State Board of Education races in 5 districts
Numerous Judicial Races, including State Supreme Court Justice, Court of Appeals Judge, and District Judge
State Senator
State Representative
District Attorney
Sheriff
Numerous County Races, including those for County Commissioner, County Constable, Tax Assessor, County Clerk, and County Attorney
Party Elections, including those for County Chair and Precinct Chair
Source: Texas Secretary of State
Messaging & strategy considerations:
Most voters aren’t familiar with primary elections. When messaging this election, take time to explain how primary elections work. Explain that primary elections are an important way to decide what the future of a party looks like. Also explain that some areas, especially urban areas, don’t have any Republicans on the ballot, so the primary elections decide who ends up winning the office.
This is a primary election, which can confuse voters who might think they need to register with a party beforehand. Explain that voters will select which party to vote for when they show up to vote on Election Day.
Although turnout is lower in primary elections, many voters still seek helpful information to help them navigate these big and complex elections. Focusing on providing useful information to voters is a great way to build a positive relationship. These highly-engaged voters usually make great volunteers for General Election work.
Primary and local elections offer a great opportunity for registering voters and testing new field strategies, before the General Election.
May 4th Local Elections
Cities across Texas will have local elections on Saturday, May 4th.
Key dates:
Filing deadline: February 16th, 2024
Voter registration deadline: April 4th, 2024
Early voting window: April 22nd - April 30th, 2024
Ballot by mail request window: January 1st - April 23rd, 2024 (postmarked by May 4th)
Election Day: Saturday, May 4th, 2024
Sources: Texas Secretary of State
What’s on the ballot:
Here are the top cities that have called elections so far for the May 4th election:
Arlington: City Council
Garland: City Council
Irving: City Council
Lubbock: Mayor, City Council, and Municipal Court Judge
Source: Texas Secretary of State
Messaging & strategy considerations:
Not every city has elections. Many voters who think they live in a city (because of their mailing address) may not actually live in the municipal boundary. For these reasons, a helpful call-to-action might be “Check if you have an election”, and point the voters towards a resource like Ballot Builder that can confirm if they have an election coming up.
Although turnout is lower in local elections, many voters still seek helpful information about who the candidates are. Providing useful information to voters is a great way to build a positive relationship. These highly-engaged voters usually make great volunteers or donors for General Election work.
Primary and local elections offer a great opportunity for registering voters and testing new field strategies, before the General Election.
November 5th General Election
This is the big one!
Key dates:
Filing deadline: December 11th, 2023 (for primary election) and August 19th, 2024 (for additional local candidates and ballot measures)
Voter registration deadline: October 7th, 2024
Early voting window: October 21st - November 1st, 2024
Ballot by mail request window: January 1st - October 25th, 2024 (postmarked by November 5th)
Election Day: November 5th, 2024
Sources: Texas Secretary of State
What’s on the ballot:
Who is on the ballot depends largely on who wins in the March Primary Election.
US President
US Senator
US Representative
Railroad Commissioner
State Board of Education races in 5 districts
State Senator
State Representative
District Attorney
Sheriff
Numerous County Races, including those for County Commissioner, County Constable, Tax Assessor, County Clerk, and County Attorney
Mayor and City Council races, in cities including Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, and Laredo
Source: Texas Secretary of State
Messaging & strategy considerations:
Although the field is not set, most sources anticipate a Biden/Trump match up at the top of the ticket. Recent polling shows this may pose a huge problem for voter apathy and turnout. Check out our article, which outlines strategies for using state and local elections to energize an apathetic voter base.
Helping voters navigate complexity
Elections are complicated. And if they’re complicated for people in the organizing world, they’re even more complicated for voters.
Here are some thorny areas that you’ll have to help voters navigate:
Voters need to know which districts they live in to understand who their candidates are. They might know their Congressional district, but they likely won’t know which SBOE District, Judicial Districts, State Legislative Districts, or County Precinct they live in.
Many voters will see over 20 offices and referendums on their ballot. Finding a way to summarize this information to encourage voter engagement and prevent ballot drop-off is key.
Voters may see over 50 candidates on their ballot (the Presidential and US Senator races have over 30 candidates). It’s important to help voters understand who these people are and who best aligns with their values.
The Spanish-speaking population in Texas represents an important segment of the electorate. 1st or 2nd generation Americans have an even higher need for educational resources that help them navigate the voting process (for the first time), and yet most electoral educational resources neglect Spanish-speaking voters.
The more of these confusion points that go unanswered, the less likely voters are to show up to vote (even if they are reminded about an election 10 times).
Personalized voter guides to improve GOTV outcomes
Voter education can be a thorny problem. Ballot Builder simplifies your voter education efforts.
Ballot Builder allows organizations to create personalized voter guides tailored to the specifics of each election. Utilize this tool to:
Generate voter guides that are personalized to voters based on their address.
Provide beginner-friendly, nonpartisan information on candidates and issues. This information is assembled by our team, which minimizes the lift for your team.
Create translated guides for Spanish and other key languages to engage underrepresented communities.
Visit ballot-builder.com to explore how Ballot Builder can revolutionize your outreach strategies. We understand the unique challenges nonprofits face in the election space and are dedicated to making your efforts more impactful.
For further details on Texas elections, refer to the Texas Secretary of State Elections Page.