The easiest election to miss may be one of the most important ones on the calendar.
Next Tuesday, May 26 — the day after Memorial Day — Texans will return to the polls for the primary runoff election. It comes at an inconvenient time. School is wrapping up. Families may be coming off a holiday weekend. Summer schedules are starting. Most people are not thinking about politics.
But low attention does not mean low stakes.
A runoff happens when no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the March primary. The top two candidates advance to a second election, and voters choose between them. Early voting runs May 18-22, and Election Day is May 26. Voters who cast a ballot in March must vote in the same party’s runoff. Voters who did not participate in the March primary may choose either party’s runoff.
This year’s statewide ballot includes several races worth understanding.
On the Republican ballot, the U.S. Senate runoff between John Cornyn and Ken Paxton is the race getting the most attention. Cornyn is the longtime incumbent, first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002. He is running on experience, seniority and the argument that his position in Washington gives him power to deliver for Texas. Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, is running as the more combative conservative choice and has built his campaign around frustration with Washington and the Republican establishment. He also enters the race after years of scrutiny over legal and personal controversies. For rural voters, this race is not just about political style or party infighting. Texas’ senators vote on federal policy that reaches agriculture, rural hospitals, veterans, broadband, border security, disaster relief, energy and federal spending.
The Republican runoff for attorney general is between state Sen. Mayes Middleton and U.S. Rep. Chip Roy. Middleton, a Galveston-area Republican and oil company president, has emphasized conservative legal fights, border security and continuing an aggressive posture from the attorney general’s office. Roy, who represents a Central Texas congressional district and previously worked for both Paxton and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, is also running as a constitutional conservative but has tried to frame himself as more independent and reform-minded. The attorney general is Texas’ lawyer, representing the state in court and shaping legal fights over education, election law, immigration, property rights and federal regulations.
The Republican runoff for Railroad Commission is between incumbent Jim Wright and Bo French. Wright, the incumbent, is asking voters to keep him in place based on experience and his support for the Texas energy industry. French, a former Tarrant County Republican Party chairman and energy investor, is running as a more confrontational conservative challenger and has drawn criticism for past social media comments.
The name of the office can be misleading because the Railroad Commission no longer regulates railroads. Today, it regulates oil and gas, drilling activity, pipelines and parts of the state’s energy system. In rural Texas, where land, minerals, pipelines, groundwater, property rights and energy production are not abstract issues, this is one of those down-ballot races that matters more than people realize.
Republican voters will also see a runoff for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 between Alison Fox and Thomas Smith. That race will not get the same attention as U.S. Senate or attorney general, but the court itself is important. Texas has two high courts. The Texas Supreme Court handles civil cases, while the Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court in the state.
On the Democratic ballot, voters will decide attorney general between state Sen. Nathan Johnson of Dallas and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski. Johnson brings legislative experience and has focused on public integrity and restoring trust in the office. Jaworski, whose family name is well known in Texas legal circles, has run before for attorney general and has emphasized ethics, democracy and accountability. Democrats will also decide a lieutenant governor runoff between state Rep. Vikki Goodwin and Marcos Vélez. That office matters because the lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful positions in Texas government, with major influence over which bills move through the Senate and how the state budget takes shape.
That is why these runoff elections matter. They are not just extra elections for political insiders. They are part of the process that decides who will have power over water, energy, schools, courts, healthcare, property, infrastructure and the relationship between state and local government.
And historically, a lot of people skip them.
Even this year, when Texas had unusually high midterm primary turnout, most registered voters still did not cast a ballot in March. Runoffs usually draw even fewer voters. That means a small number of people can end up making decisions for everyone else.
That is the part rural Texans ought to pay attention to.
We talk a lot about feeling ignored. We talk about Austin not listening. We talk about rural hospitals struggling, public schools carrying more of the load, water getting tighter, electricity demand growing, property taxes rising and decisions being made by people who do not always understand life outside the big cities.
But voting in these smaller elections is one of the places rural Texans still have real influence.
It may not feel dramatic. There may not be long lines or yard signs on every corner. There may not be much talk about it at the coffee shop. But when turnout is low, the people who do show up make the decision.
So check your sample ballot. Know which runoff you are eligible to vote in. Then make a plan to vote.
Because self-government does not only happen in the big elections everybody talks about. Sometimes it happens in the quiet ones most folks forget.
And in rural Texas, those votes still matter.
Suzanne Bellsnyder is editor and publisher of the Hansford County Reporter-Statesman and Sherman County Gazette. Subscribe at www.TexasRuralReporter.Substack.com