PRIMARY 2026
Though early voting is now over, polls open Tuesday for Williamson County party primary elections to set the stage for the midterms in November.
Voters can cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 3 for their favorite candidates.
Democrats in East Williamson County can vote at two Hutto or two Taylor locations, while Republicans in the eastern part of the county are able to vote at four Hutto locations, two in Taylor or one
in Thrall.
There are several contested races on the Democrat side for federal and state House and Senate slots.
In the federal races: U.S. Senate — Jasmine Crockett, Ahmad Hassan and James Talarico; U.S. House District 11 — Claire Reynolds and Pete Ruiz; U.S. House District 17 — Milah Flores, J. Gordon Mitchell and Casey Shepard; U.S. House District 31 — Justin Early and Stuart Whitlow.
In state elections, governor — Patricia Abrego, Jose Navarro Balbuena, Chris Bell, Bobby Cole, Carlton Hart, Gina Hinojosa, Zach Vance, Angela Villescaz and Andrew White; lieutenant governor — Vikki Goodwin, Courtney Head and Marcos Velez; attorney general — Tony Box, Joe Jaworski and Nathan Johnson; comptroller — Sarah Eckhardt, Michael Lange and Savant Moore; Texas land commissioner — Benjamin Flores and Jose Loya; chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court — Cory Carlyle and Maggie Ellis; Texas Supreme Court justice Place 7 — Gordon Goodman and Kristen Hawkins; State Board of Education District 5 — Alison Bush, Abigail Gray, Kevin Jackson, Stephanie Limon, Neto Longoria and Victor Sampson; and State Senate District 5 — Kevin Nelson and Paul Thomasson.
Running uncontested for their party’s primary seats are Clayton Tucker — commissioner of agriculture; Jon Rosenthal — railroad commissioner; Chari Kelly — Texas Supreme Court justice Place 2; Gisela Triana — Texas Supreme Court justice Place 8; Okey Anyiam — Court of Criminal Appeals justice Place 3; Audra Riley — Court of Criminal Appeals justice Place 4; Holly Taylor — Court of Criminal Appeals place 9; Joe Paz Herrera — District 24 State Senate; Matthias-Jonah Early — District 20 state House; Chris Jimenez — District 52 state House; John Bucy III — District 136 state House; Jerry Zimmerer — chief justice of the 15th Court of Appeals District; Tom Baker — Place 2 justice of the 15th Court of Appeals District; Mark Meyer — Place 3 justice of the 15th Court of Appeals District; Darlene Byrne — incumbent, chief justice of the Third Court of Appeals District; and Leslie Booker — judge of the 512th Judicial District.
On the Republican side, there are two Federal races up for party nomination.
Incumbent US Sen. John Cornyn faces seven candidates — John Adefope, Anna Bender, Virgil John Bierschwale, Sara Canady, Wesley Hunt, Gulrez Khan and Ken Paxton — for his party’s nomination; while US Rep. District 31 incumbent John Carter has nine fellow Republicans gunning for his post — William Abel, David Berry, Steven Dowell, Ed Ewald, Abhiram Garapati, Valentina Gomez, Raymond Hamden, Elvis Lossa and Offer Vince Shlomi.
U.S. representative incumbents August Pfluger (District 11) and Pete Sessions (District 17) will earn their party’s nominations because they’re running uncontested in the primary.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is in an 11-person race for his party’s nomination. Other Republicans challenging Abbott are Bob Achgill, Evelyn Brooks, Pete “Doc” Chambers, Charles Crouch, Arturo Espinosa, Mark Goloby, Kenneth Hyde, Stephen Samuelson, Ronnie Tullos and Nathaniel Welch.
Other contested state Republican races include lieutenant governor — incumbent Dan Patrick, Esala Wueschner, Timothy Mabry and Perla Muñoz Hopkins; attorney general — Joan Huffman, Aaron Reitz, Chip Roy and Mayes Middleton; comptroller — Christi Craddock, Don Huffines, incumbent Kelly Hancock and Michael Berlanga; commissioner of agriculture — incumbent Sid Miller and Nate Sheets; railroad commissioner — Jim Wright, Hawk Dunlap, Jim Matlock, Bo French and Katherine Culbert; Place 3 judge of Court of Criminal Appeals — Alison Fox, Lesli Fitzpatrick, Brent Coffee and Thomas Smith; Place 9 judge of Court of Criminal Appeals — John Messinger and Jennifer Balido; District 5 state Senate — incumbent Charles Schwertner, Apollo Hernandez and Larry Nance; District 52 state representative — incumbent Caroline Harris Davila and Blayre Pena; and 512th District Court judge — Ryan Bownds and Sarah Moore.
Running uncontested in their primary races are Dawn Buckingham — incumbent, Texas land commissioner; Jimmy Blaylock — incumbent, Texas Supreme Court chief justice; James P. Sullivan — incumbent, Place 2 justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Kyle Hawkins — Place 7 justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Brett Busby — incumbent, Place 8 justice of the Texas Supreme Court; Kevin Yeary — incumbent, Place 4 judge of Court of Criminal Appeals; Mica Arellano — District 5 State Board of Education; Pete Flores — incumbent, District 24 state Senate; Terry M. Wilson — incumbent, District 20 state representative; Theodore Schramm — District 136 state representative; Scott Brister — incumbent, chief justice of the 15th Court of Appeals; Scott Field — incumbent, Place 2 justice of the 15th Court of Appeals; April Farris — incumbent, Place 3 justice of the 15th Court of Appeals; Cory Liu — chief justice of the Third Court of Appeals; Stacey Mathews — incumbent, 277th District judge; Sarah Bruchmiller — incumbent, 368th District judge; and Terence Davis — incumbent, 480th District judge.
There are six Democrat candidates running for county offices: Williamson County judge — Heather Jefts; Precinct 1 justice of the peace — incumbent KT Musselman; Precinct 4 county commissioner — Harmon Rhea; county clerk — Erin Block; county treasurer — Brian Walbridge; and county party chair — incumbent Kim Collins Gilby.
Since the candidates have no primary opposition, they will represent their party in the Nov. 3 general election.
Of the 14 offices up for grabs on the Republican ballot, only one — Precinct 2 county commissioner — is contested. Rupal Chaudhari, Jeff Mayes and David McDonald are vying for their party’s nomination.
Other county offices with no Republican primary contest include County Judge — incumbent Steven Snell; County Court-of-Law 1 Judge — incumbent Brandy Hallford; County Court-of-Law 2 judge — incumbent Laura Barker; County Court-of-Law 3 judge — incumbent Kathryn Fowler; County Court-of-Law 4 judge — David Oliver; district clerk — incumbent Cathy Mendoza; county clerk — William Fairbrother; Precinct 4 county commissioner — incumbent Russ Boles, Precinct 2 justice of the peace — incumbent Angela Williams; Precinct 3 justice of the peace — incumbent Evelyn McLean; Precinct 4 justice of the peace — incumbent Rhonda Redden; and GOP party chair — Michelle Evans.
The 13 candidates running unopposed in the primary will represent the GOP on the ticket in the November election.
Some of these races, however, do not have Democratic opposition, which means the candidates in those races will run unopposed in November as well.
Candidates in contested primary races who do not earn more than 50% of the votes will go into a runoff May 26.
Democrats in Taylor can vote at Taylor City Hall, 400 Porter St., or the Wilco Expo Center, 5350 Bill Pickett Trail.
Democrats in Hutto can vote at Rushcreek at Star Ranch, 350 Star Ranch Blvd., or Hutto Discovery United Methodist Church, 350 Ed Schmidt Blvd.
Republicans in Taylor can vote at the Taylor Independent School District Event Center, 3101 N. Main St., or the Taylor Annex, 412 Vance St., Suite V108; while Thrall Republicans can vote St. John Lutheran Church, 409 S. Main St.
Republicans in Hutto can vote at Rushcreek at Star Ranch, 350 Star Ranch Blvd.; Christ the Rock Lutheran Church, 3250 Limmer Loop; New Hope Christian Church, 9850 FM 1660; and Hutto Bible Church, 150 Main Hippo Drive.
