Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a joint motion with the state’s GOP leadership to close the Republican primaries.
The filing comes after the same leadership sued the Texas Secretary of State for the same purpose. It also comes ahead of the race for U.S. Senate, in which Paxton hopes to unseat longtime Sen. John Cornyn.
Ken Paxton wants closed Texas primaries
What’s new:
Paxton filed the motion jointly in a federal court with the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) on Thursday. The RPT sued Secretary of State Jane Nelson at the beginning of September to achieve the same goal.
The motion seeks to strike down a provision of the Texas Election Code which ultimately allows for registered Democrats to vote in Republican primary elections. The party is asking that these elections be limited exclusively to registered Republicans.
‘A slap in the face to the Republican Party’
What they’re saying:
“The unconstitutional law stopping the RPT from closing its primaries is completely indefensible and a slap in the face to the Republican Party and voters. The Secretary of State must follow the Constitution by swiftly implementing this consent decree,” Paxton’s statement reads in part.
The RPT issued a statement Thursday thanking the AG for his support. The statement reads in part:
“For far too long, radical democrats and socialists have exploited our open primary system to undermine our nominees. They cross over to exploit the weakest candidate and then switch sides in November to back the democrat. As a result, Republican priorities are stifled, property taxes soar, and conservative victories are diluted.”
Why do Republicans want closed primaries?
Big picture view:
As mentioned in the RPT’s statement, Texas’ Republican leadership has maintained that the state’s open primary policy allows for Democrats to meddle in the selection of candidates in order to increase their chances in the general election.
Texas is one of 15 states with completely open primaries, meaning that anyone who is registered to vote can vote in a specific party’s primary without being a member of that party. In contrast, only 10 states operate a closed primary where only members can vote in a party’s primary.
The rest of the nation operates under rules that either allow independent voters to choose at the polls or allows the state to decide ahead of an election if they will allow unaffiliated voters or voters from another party to vote in their elections.
A major criticism of the closed primary system is how it seemingly alienates voters who don’t align with either party. Critics say that by not allowing independent voters to be a part of the primary process it effectively disenfranchises millions of Texas voters.
Ken Paxton’s open primary history
The backstory:
Thursday’s motion is not Paxton’s first attempt to close the primaries. In May 2024, the attorney general accused the Democratic Party of conspiring to support former Speaker of the House Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont) in a runoff election after he was censured by the RPT.
The RPT found Phelan to have behaved in an unconservative manner during the 2023 Texas Legislative Session and forced him to defend his seat. Phelan was criticized by party leaders for allotting influence to Democrat representatives, as well as supporting bipartisan legislation that the RPT did not feel was in line with party values.
Phelan won the election, and Paxton said at the time that 1,442 Democratic early voters were found to have supported him, thereby assisting him in “stealing” the election. Paxton then demanded that primaries be closed.
RELATED:
Upcoming Texas primary
Dig deeper:
Paxton is in the middle of a campaign to unseat Cornyn, the longtime senior Republican senator for Texas and the former Senate minority whip. Cornyn’s team recently called the primary race a dead heat, though recent polling numbers show a slight lead for Paxton.
It’s unclear who would benefit the most from an open primary, though those same numbers suggest Cornyn would fare better in the general election. If Democrats were to cross lines in the primary in support of the candidate they believe they have the best chance of beating, the newest polling numbers might lead one to believe that Paxton would gain the extra votes.
The Source: Information in this report comes from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and previous FOX Texas Digital coverage.
