Independent Candidates

You may have your name placed on the general election ballot as an independent candidate if you are not affiliated with a political party. Section 1.005(9) Texas Election Code. If you vote in a party’s primary elections or participate in a party’s conventions, you thereby affiliate with the party. (Sections 142.008, 162.003, 162.007, Texas Election Code). File a Declaration of Intent to Run as an Independent Candidate (PDF) between November 9, 2019 and 6:00 p.m. on December 9, 2019 (Sections 142.002(b)(2), Texas Election Code), with the county judge (county or precinct offices) or the Secretary of State (district and state offices) (Section 142.005, Texas Election Code). After the primary elections (or after the primary runoff election, if the office you are seeking is involved in a primary runoff election), collect signatures (PDF)from registered voters, who support your application for a place on the general election ballot (PDF). Section 142.009, Texas Election Code. The signers must be registered voters who have not participated in the general primary election or the runoff primary election of a party that has nominated, at either election, a candidate for the office you seek. Section 142.009, Texas Election Code. File the application, along with petition, by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2020, with the county judge (county or precinct offices) or the Secretary of State (district and state offices). Sections 142.005, 142.006,Texas Election Code. NOTE: This deadline was modified as a result of the Governor’s postponement of the primary runoff election to July 14, 2020.

Contact the Secretary of State’s office concerning the number of signatures required.

Independent (Nonpartisan) Candidate
Public Office Sought in 2020	File Declaration of Intent and Application with		Nominating Petition
	Sec of State	County Judge	% Signatures ^a	Maximum Number of Signature ^b
United States Senator	x	-	1%	-
United States Representative	x	-	5%	500
Governor	x	-	1%	-
Lieutenant Governor	x	-	1%	-
Attorney General	x	-	1%	-
Comptroller of Public Accounts	x	-	1%	-
Commissioner of General Land Office	x	-	1%	-
Commissioner of Agriculture	x	-	1%	-
Railroad Commissioner	x	-	1%	-
Chief Justice and Justice, Supreme Court	x	-	1%	-
Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals	x	-	1%	-
State Senator	x	-	5%	500
State Representative	x	-	5%	500
Member, State Board of Education	x	-	5%	500
Chief Justice and Justice, Court of Appeals	x	-	5%	500
District Judge	x	-	5%	500
Criminal District Judge	x	-	5%	500
Family District Judge	x	-	5%	500
District Attorney	x	-	5%	500
Criminal District Attorney	x	-	5%	500
County Judge	-	x	5%	500
Judge, County Court-at-Law	-	x	5%	500
Judge, County Criminal Court	-	x	5%	500
Judge, County Probate Court	-	x	5%	500
County Attorney	-	x	5%	500
Sheriff	-	x	5%	500
Tax-Assessor Collector	-	x	5%	500
County Commissioner	-	x	5%	500
Justice of the Peace	-	x	5%	500
Constable	-	x	5%	500
Source: Texas Election Code Section	§142.002 & §142.005		§142.007

Percentage of all votes for all gubernatorial candidates cast in the applicable territory in the 2018 general election. If number is less than 25, the required number of signatures is the lesser of (1) 25 or (2) 10% of all votes for all gubernatorial candidates cast in the applicable territory in the 2018 general election. For candidates elected statewide, the one percent figure for the 2018 gubernatorial election is 83,435
The minimum number of signatures that must appear on a candidate’s petition for statewide office is 1% of the total vote received by all gubernatorial candidates in the 2018 general election. The minimum number of signatures that must appear on a candidate’s petition for district, county or precinct office is the lesser of (1) 500 or (2) 5% of the total vote received in the district, county or precinct, as applicable, by all gubernatorial candidates in the 2018 general election, subject to (a) immediately above. Section 142.007, Texas Election Code.