AG Paxton sides with Texas GOP in attempt to close primary elections
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in a federal court asking a judge to rule the state’s open primary system as unconstitutional, joining the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) in their attempt to create closed primaries.
“I am in total agreement with the RPT that this law is deeply flawed and a violation of the First Amendment,” Paxton wrote in a news release about the Texas election code. “I’ve filed this joint motion with the court because this section of our Election Code should immediately be struck down.”
Texas currently allows anyone to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary when they go to the ballot — a system known as an open primary. Other states, like Florida and New York, have closed primaries, which allow only voters who are registered members of a party to vote in that party’s primary.
The RPT filed a lawsuit last month in a federal court claiming the state’s election code violates their freedom of association. The RPT changed its bylaws in 2024 to only allow registered Republicans to vote in its primaries, but its bylaws have no teeth unless the state’s election code is changed.
Efforts in the Capitol to pass legislation to amend the election code gained no traction this past session. Now the RPT is taking legal action to get an outcome they like. The biggest concern from the party is Democratic voters crossing over to vote for what is considered a “weaker” candidate in the Republican primary.
“We are a private entity, and we want to be able to choose our nominees with the people who believe who we believe are Republicans,” Abraham George, the RPT Chair said in an interview.
Even though the party has the support of the attorney general, Secretary of State Jane Nelson, who is in charge of statewide elections, said she intends to oppose Paxton’s motion, according to a filing in court.
“The Secretary of State must follow the Constitution by swiftly implementing this consent decree. Instead of fighting this lawsuit with expensive out-of-state lawyers, the Secretary of State’s office should respect the will of Texas voters and defend their freedoms by creating a process that will allow the RPT to immediately close its primaries,” Paxton said in a news release.
Dr. Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of politics at the University of Houston, said closed primaries give political parties more control over their nominees.
“Having strong parties is an effective tool because it does give voters a pretty clear indication of what a party will do while they’re in power,” Rottinghaus explained.
But he does warn the timing of this suit is not ideal. He said if the judge in this case does decide in favor of the RPT then it may be next to impossible for the Secretary of State’s office to implement a closed primary.
“The Secretary of State would have to come up with some way to administer this process, either having people re-register to vote within a particular party or applying a person’s prior primary vote as their indication of their acceptance to a particular party. That, though, would mean that independents and people who didn’t vote in prior primaries couldn’t vote in this primary,” Rottinghaus said.
Independent voters in the state would have to make a decision to register with a certain party or not vote in the primary. Ultimately, Rottinghaus said closing the primary would in turn close the window of opportunity for voters.
“A lot of people may just decide that they don’t want to participate,” Rottinghaus said. “Even if it is the case that they’re able to facilitate this in the short-term, it’s still confusing for voters.”
