TYLER COUNTY – The early voting period is underway for the party primaries, the process in which voters representing both major parties pick the candidates they want to appear on the ballot in the November general election.
For the 2026 mid-term election year, there are more than 18 statewide elected positions up for grabs, as well as seats in the state legislature and officials at the local level.
The early voting period, which began Tuesday, will last two weeks, ending on Friday, Feb. 27, and the election day is Tuesday, March 3.
Texas is an open primary state, which means that voters do not have to register as members of a political party but can cast ballots in either major party’s primary election, but not in both. In the event of a run-off election, the same rules hold true. Voters do not have to pick the same party or candidate in November’s general election.
The Secretary of State Jane Nelson has reminded voters to only rely on official election information before casting their ballots.
“With millions of Texans registered to vote, our goal is to make sure every voter who wants to participate feels confident in the process,” Nelson said. “Taking a few minutes to review official election information ahead of time helps voters know exactly what to expect.”
In 2025, Texas Republicans redrew congressional districts in order to gain more seats. Some districts changed, but Tyler County is still in Texas’s 36th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Dr. Brian Babin since 2015. In this primary season, Babin is challenged by Jonathan “Pipeliner” Mitchell, a Republican from Humble. The Democratic side for that race has Rhonda Hart running against Doug Alan Rogers.
The Libertarian and Green parties have their own nomination process to select candidates through conventions that typically take place later in the spring. The Libertarian Party of Texas’s scheduled state convention is April 10-12, and the Green Party has district conventions to take place in March, followed by a state convention on April 11, according to reports.
One statewide race that is gaining a lot of attention, both at the state and national levels, is that of the Senate seat up for reelection. Incumbent John Cornyn, who is facing a slate of challengers in his party’s primary, including Attorney General Ken Paxton. Other GOP challengers to Cornyn are: Anna Bender; Sara Canady; Virgil John Bierschwale; Gulrez “Gus” Khan; John O. Adefope and Wesley Hunt.
The Democrats are running sitting Congressional Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who represents the state’s 30th congressional district against state House member James Talarico and Ahmad R. Hassan.
In the GOP primary for that race, current polls indicate that Paxon has a lead over Cornyn, with one poll putting him at 36% compared with Cornyn’s 27%. Those sorts of poll numbers, ahead of the primary, indicate that a runoff is likely between the two. In a race, if no candidate carries a majority of votes, then the top two will head to a runoff, which will take place on May 26.
At the head of the state’s government, incumbent Greg Abbott is running against 10 other candidates in the GOP primary, including Nathaniel Welch and Pete “Doc” Chambers. The Democrats have a large slate of candidates, as well, with nine in the running, including Chris Bell; Andrew White and Gina Hinojosa.
Statewide offices further down the ballot have also drawn several contenders, including the offices of Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General and State Comptroller.
With Paxton declaring his candidacy for the Senate seat currently occupied by Cornyn, that office has drawn Aaron Reitz; Chip Roy; Mayes Middleton and Joan Huffman as GOP contenders. The Democrats are running Joe Jaworski; Anthony “Tony” Box and Nathan Johnson as AG hopefuls.
For the House seat for District 9, which represents Tyler County in Austin, incumbent Trent Ashby is not running, as he declared his candidacy last summer for the Senate seat that Robert Nichols announced retirement from. Paulette Carson; Rocky Thigpen and Stephanie Sjoberg are the Republicans running for a spot on November’s ballot, while one Democrat, Shelley Tatum, is on the primary ballot for her party.
As for that Senate seat, for District 3, which was long served by Jacksonville’s Nichols, Ashby is running against Rhonda Ward. One Democrat, Bobby Tillman, is running for the seat.
The office of Tyler County Clerk has Janet Brown, who was named to the position last year after the retirement of Donece Gregory, facing Amanda McGallion Stephens in the Republican primary.
For the Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace office, incumbent Ken Jobe is facing Rodney Smith in the Republican primary.
Also of note: each party’s ballot in the primary has a slate of propositions. The GOP’s propositions range from a measure that would, if voted on, enact term limits on all elected officials to a measure prohibiting Sharia Law in the state.
Democratic ballot propositions include proposals to address the state’s housing crisis in affordability to preventing individuals with histories of domestic abuse from purchasing firearms.
The location for early voting in Tyler County is at the Nutrition Center, located at 201 Willow Street in Woodville. Here are the hours voters can take advantage of the early vote period: from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Friday, Feb. 20; on Saturday, Feb. 21, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 22 – 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Next week the polls are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday Feb. 23 through Friday, Feb. 27. On election day, Tuesday, March 3, the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. A location of those polling places will be published in this newspaper in the next edition.
Voters can visit VoteTexas.gov to review ID requirements, find polling locations and confirm their registration status. Additionally, the state has a voting hotline for extra voter assistance, which can be reached via 1-800-252-VOTE.
