Texas Ballot 2026: Candidates for U.S. Senate, Governor and Every Statewide Race on Nov. 3

Texas voters elect a U.S. senator, a governor and seven other statewide officials on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, and fill 10 seats on the state’s three statewide courts. The Secretary of State certified the candidates on Aug. 28, and every name below comes from that ballot certification. The U.S. Senate seat now held by John Cornyn is open, and Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are on the ballot again. There are no statewide propositions this year. Below: each statewide race, the courts, what else is on your ballot, and the dates that matter.

Senate, governor and statewide offices

Candidates are listed in the order of the Secretary of State’s certification. Your county’s ballot may list parties in a different order.

Office	Republican	Democrat	Other
U.S. senator	Ken Paxton	James Talarico	Ted Brown (Libertarian)
Governor	Greg Abbott	Gina Hinojosa	Pat Dixon (Libertarian)
Lieutenant governor	Dan Patrick	Vikki Goodwin	Anthony Cristo (Libertarian), Kevin McCormick (Green)
Attorney general	Mayes Middleton	Nathan Johnson	Tom Oxford (Libertarian)
Comptroller of public accounts	Don Huffines	Sarah Eckhardt	V. Alonzo Echavarria-Garza (Libertarian), Shehla Faizi (Green)
Commissioner of the General Land Office	Dawn Buckingham	Benjamin Flores	Neill Snider (Libertarian)
Commissioner of agriculture	Nate Sheets	Clayton Tucker	Austin R. Kelly (Libertarian)
Railroad commissioner	Bo French	Jon Rosenthal	Arthur DiBianca (Libertarian)

The U.S. senator serves six years; the governor and the other executive offices serve four, and the railroad commissioner six.

The statewide courts

Texas elects its judges by party, and three courts are elected statewide: the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the 15th Court of Appeals, which a 2023 law, Senate Bill 1045, created on Sept. 1, 2024.

Seat	Republican	Democrat	Other
Supreme Court, chief justice	Jimmy Blacklock	Maggie Ellis
Supreme Court, Place 2 (unexpired term)	James P. Sullivan	Chari Kelly
Supreme Court, Place 7	Kyle Hawkins	Kristen Hawkins
Supreme Court, Place 8	Brett Busby	Gisela D. Triana
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3	Thomas Smith	Okey Anyiam	Mark Ash (Libertarian)
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4	Kevin Patrick Yeary	Audra Riley
Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9	John Messinger	Holly Taylor
15th Court of Appeals, chief justice	Scott Brister	Jerry Zimmerer
15th Court of Appeals, Place 2	Scott K. Field	Tom Baker
15th Court of Appeals, Place 3	April Farris	Marc M. Meyer

Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals judges serve six-year terms. The 15th Court of Appeals has a chief justice and two justices for now; the Legislature added Places 4 and 5 later, and they first appear on the 2030 ballot, the Secretary of State says.

Also on your ballot

• U.S. House: all 38 Texas districts.
• Texas Legislature: all 150 House seats and 16 of the 31 Senate seats.
• State Board of Education: eight of its 15 districts.
• Courts and county offices: courts of appeals for your region, district judges, and county offices such as county judge and commissioners.

Unopposed candidates stay on the ballot. A 2023 law, Senate Bill 1089, ended the practice of declaring them elected in advance, so they need at least one vote, the Secretary of State notes. There is no straight-ticket option either: Texas ended straight-party voting on Sept. 1, 2020, so you choose a candidate in each race.

Are there propositions on the Texas ballot?

Not statewide. Texas usually votes on constitutional amendments in November of odd-numbered years, and its most recent amendment election was Nov. 4, 2025, according to the Texas Legislative Council. Cities, counties, school districts and other local bodies can still put propositions on the Nov. 3 ballot, such as bonds or charter changes. They must post the text of each proposition and a sample ballot on their websites in the 21 days before the election, under the Secretary of State’s election calendar. Your county sample ballot shows the ones for your address.

Key dates and how to vote

Date	What happens
Through Fri., Oct. 30	Early voting at any early voting site in your county
Fri., Oct. 23	Applications for a ballot by mail must be received
Tue., Nov. 3, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.	Election Day; mailed ballots due by 7 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 4, 5 p.m.	A mailed ballot postmarked by 7 p.m. Nov. 3 still counts if it arrives by now

Bring one of the seven accepted photo IDs, or sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration if you cannot reasonably get one. The full ID list, the county election offices for the 12 largest counties and how to find your precinct are in our sample ballot by ZIP code guide. Phones cannot be used where you vote, so bring your choices on paper.

Print your checklist

Our free one-page checklist lists every certified candidate for U.S. Senate, the seven statewide executive offices and the 10 statewide court seats, with the key dates, boxes for local propositions and lines for your legislative and local races. Copy your choices from your county sample ballot and take the sheet with you. Plan the trip on our October and November 2026 calendars or a weekly planner. For results night, see what time polls close and our 2026 midterm tracker.