Two Tarrant County legislative races will each appear twice on the Nov. 3 ballot because of a state election law requiring the current vacancies to be filled.
Gov. Greg Abbott called special elections this week for the Texas Senate District 22 and Texas House District 93 races that were already set to appear on the midterms ballot. The seats are vacant after Sen. Brian Birdwell and Rep. Nate Schatzline, respectively, stepped down to accept appointments to other government posts.
The remainder of Birdwell’s and Schatzline’s current terms, from November to January, will be filled by whoever wins the special elections called by Abbott. But the candidates who fill the next two-year terms — including the legislative session starting Jan. 12 — will be determined by the regular election that was already scheduled.
County political leaders and a voting rights attorney told the Fort Worth Report the double appearances of the two races, a fairly uncommon occurrence, mean that increased transparency and voter education are essential to avoid confusion at the polls. Some raised concerns about the level of transparency in the process so far, questioning how notice of the special elections had been distributed.
“One of the biggest issues and problems with the situation that’s playing out is that this process has been so rushed. It’s also been very behind the scenes and very quiet,” said Carl Blair, an attorney with Texas Civil Rights Project, a nonprofit focused on protecting and expanding civil rights, such as voting access.
The March primaries determined Republican and Democratic nominees for the regular election. The same candidates are running in the special election, according to filings with the Texas secretary of state’s office.
Republican Alan Blaylock and Democrat Ericka Lomick are seeking the Texas House District 93 seat. Republican David Cook and Democrat Amy Martinez-Salas are the candidates for Texas Senate District 22.
Abbott ordered the special election for Birdwell’s east and southeast Tarrant seat on Tuesday, followed by his Thursday proclamation ordering the election for Schatzline’s north Fort Worth seat. But as of Friday afternoon, only one of those proclamations is publicly available online.
Under Texas election code, the governor is required to call a special election to fill vacancies in the legislature, then notify each county judge in the territory of the election. The county judge must then ensure voters are notified of the additional election, Blair said.
Both of Abbott’s proclamations ordering the special elections state that notice was sent to the presiding county judge, which in this case is Tarrant County’s Tim O’Hare. Ruth Ray and Leah Nesbitt, O’Hare’s respective chief of staff and spokesperson, did not return a request for comment on whether his office had received such notice as of Friday.
Neither of the county party chairs, Tim Davis of the Republican party nor Allison Campolo of the Democratic party, knew of the election to fill Schatzline’s vacant seat until Thursday, they told the Report. The governor’s office provided the Report with a copy of that proclamation, which was not available online as of Friday afternoon.
“Our office has not received any notice regarding a special election in House District 93,” Ray wrote in a Thursday morning email to Campolo obtained by the Report. “We are also not aware of any requirements that would obligate us to receive such a notice.”
While Davis dismissed concerns that the special elections would cause voter confusion, Campolo expressed frustration and concern that neither voters nor candidates had yet been notified of the special election for Schatzline’s seat. She shared on social media Thursday that she learned of that election hours before the deadline for candidates to apply for a place on the ballot.
“There’s vacancies, and they have to get filled, even though the legislature is not supposed to be in session. It is ludicrous. It will cause voter confusion,” Campolo told the Report.
Under election code, the county judge has several options for notifying voters of the special elections:
- Publishing notice in the local newspaper, no earlier than 30 days before the election and no later than 10 days before the election.
- Posting a copy of the notice at a public place in each election precinct the election occurs in, no later than the 21st day before the election.
- Mailing a copy of the notice to each registered voter eligible in the district, no later than 10 days before the election.
A copy of the special election order must also be posted on the county website no later than the 21st day before the election, according to the election code.
Davis, the Republican party chair, said he doubts the special elections will have much of a net impact on the voter experience or outcome of the elections but emphasized the importance of voter education.
“It’s going to be another interesting wrinkle on our ballot,” Davis told the Report. “I don’t know that it will be necessarily confusing. It’ll be incumbent on us to educate our voters about what’s happening there.”
It’s unclear whether the duplicate races will appear beside each other or at separate places on the ballot. County elections administrator Clint Ludwig did not return a request for comment.
Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting is Oct. 19-30. The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5.
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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