A push by the Texas GOP to create a different March primary voting reality could have severe, long-term negative impacts on Harris County voters, particularly those who lean Democratic.
Harris County Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle describes the move as “a slightly different Republican tactic to blow up orderly and transparent voting during the primary.” At the heart of the GOP initiative is a refusal to hold a joint primary like the one successfully conducted by both parties under the leadership and coordination of Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth in 2024.
The GOP call
On Jan. 8, Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened a state takeover of Houston/Harris County’s elections. Abbott’s call was actually a continuation of long-standing GOP threats to take control of voting in the Houston area.
“They should be stripped of operating elections, and state officials should take over. Potential legal charges should also be considered,” posted Abbott on social media. Abbott classified Harris County as a “repeat violator of election integrity.”
Some connect Abbott’s recent resurrection of this call to Republican State Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s allegation that Harris County voters were unlawfully registered using commercial post office box addresses. But controlling Harris County elections is a prize Texas Republicans have been clamoring to claim for years.
Pushback
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones, however, offers a vastly different take.
“Harris County is committed to the integrity of our voter rolls and has been diligent about following the law — a fact that has been acknowledged by the Texas Secretary of State,” Briones told Democracy Docket. “Governor Abbott either doesn’t understand this issue, or he is intentionally misrepresenting the law in his continued efforts to undermine our democracy and erode our voting rights.
“Texans deserve better,” Briones said. “ Harris County is dedicated to operating with the fairness, transparency, and excellence our democracy deserves.”
And Briones is not alone in pushing back against Abbott’s Texas GOP call-to-action.
Fighting against SB1933
Doyle identifies Texas Senate Bill 1933, passed in 2023, as a “poison pill” intended to kill democracy in Harris County and, by extension, Texas.
Bettencourt (R), author of SB 1933, submitted a complaint to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson’s office last November, alleging more than 100 invalid voter registrations in Houston. Nelson is a former Republican state senator who was appointed to her current position by Abbott in 2023.
SB 1933 allows the state to order “administrative oversight” of local elections offices. However, the law applies only to Harris County, though its wording says it applies to counties with a population of more than four million.
“SB1933 is the Republicans trying to claw the clock back in a lot of ways, I think, to 1933. It’s kind of like a Titanic waiting there for voters in Harris County,” said Doyle, who draws a throughline connecting the Texas GOP’s call to end joint primaries and their ability to enact SB 1933.
“This whole idea that we’re going to have separate primaries, likely increasing confusion, (costing) millions and millions of dollars to the taxpayers, is going to be a great justification, to the extent they ever needed one, and a pretext for the Republicans to take over the election,” added Doyle.
Joint primaries vs. separate primaries
Doyle believes GOP efforts to hold separate primaries rather than the joint primaries Harris County conducted in 2024 were a strategic move to implement SB 1933’s powers.
Doyle asserts the move to separate primaries could potentially cost Harris County taxpayers “millions and millions,” though he said Hudspeth is still calculating the actual cost for the change.
“Whether it’s $5, $10 million… It’s many millions of dollars that could go towards sidewalks, flood abatement, that’s just being wasted because they’re splitting the primary for no legitimate reason, in my view,” shared Doyle.
In addition to the cost, Doyle believes converting from the current joint primary format to separate primaries will open the door to problems that could be used to justify the enactment of SB 1933’s powers.
Doyle emphasized the distinction between “closed” primaries and separate ones.
“If you remember back in 2024, there were normal voting stations all over the county. You would get to go in, and you’d say, ‘I want to vote in the Republican primary’ or ‘I want to vote in the Democratic primary.’ It’s the same workers. They’re working together. They did a great job, and everybody got to vote,” said Doyle, describing joint (or closed) primaries.
Separate primaries are held in different locations, which could lead to voter confusion about polling sites and more.
“With joint (closed) primaries, everybody knew how it was, and it wasn’t confusing. Well, guess what? This cycle, this March, and actually with the early voting starting Feb. 17, they’re not going to be at the same locations,” shared Doyle. “As a matter of fact, you may have to go find a Democrat location and a Republican location, and it may be different than where you normally vote. What do you think that’s going to do, confusion-wise, on the ground?”
Doyle believes the switch could double the potential for problems.
“So, every single problem that arises from splitting the primaries, which there’s no good reason to do from my view and will cost millions and millions of wasted dollars, is (the GOP’s) set-up excuse for taking over the election and suppressing the vote in November,” added Doyle.
The separate primaries push would also end countywide voting.
“I know that if it’s easy to vote, more people vote,” said Doyle. “If you can do it while you’re out shopping, at work, or on the way to church, as opposed to voting only at your local precinct by your house, that’s a massive change.”
Potential impact on Harris County
Doyle believes the enactment of SB 1933 could trigger the shutdown of polling locations that lean heavily Democratic, like East End’s Magnolia and Third Ward’s Wheeler Avenue.
“They’ve got no limits on what they can do to shut down voting when they are in charge of the voting process. And that’s the thing they’re aiming for,” said Doyle. “And one of the worst ways they can do it is by blowing up the primary, in essence, not just costing money, but guaranteeing that there’s going to be less polling places, more difficulty, less transparency, more likelihood of confusion in Harris County, with this separate primary.”
National implications
Doyle suggests the impact of the state (GOP) running Harris County elections will be felt nationally.
“I think it’s absolutely clear. We’re the swing county in the entire country, honestly,” said Doyle. “We have the ability in this county, when our voters show up, and 1.1 million is kind of the magic number, we will never have another Republican president in our lifetime. We will never have a Republican governor ever again.
“So, (the GOP) know the one place they need to attack to stay in power… is Harris County.”
