Election 2022: State races you’ll be voting on
Published 5:00 am Saturday, October 22, 2022
- The Hub at 304 E. Ferguson Street in Tyler is one of many voting centers on Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Below, you’ll find a list of all state races on the Nov. 8 ballot and descriptions of each candidate.
For Smith County-specific ballots, click here.
Candidates appear in the order that they will be listed on the ballot. Information comes from previous stories and candidate web pages:
GOVERNOR
The Texas governor’s race is one of the most watched, and most expensive, races in this midterm election. It features Greg Abbott, an incumbent Republican governor, attempting to hold off the challenge of Beto O’Rourke, who is looking to capture the governor’s mansion after failed bids for the U.S. Senate and president of the United States.
REPUBLICAN | GREG ABBOTT: Abbott, who grew up in East Texas, is seeking his third term as Texas governor. Before his election in 2014 as the 48th Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott was the 50th and longest-serving Attorney General of Texas.
DEMOCRAT | BETO O’ROURKE: O’Rourke, born and raised in El Paso, has worked as a small business owner, and served as a city council representative and member of Congress. He founded and currently leads Powered by People, an organization that supports voter registration and engagement.
LIBERTARIAN | MARK TIPPETTS: Tippetts is a consultant for businesses and individuals that own property and/or do business in Mexico and Latin America. Previously, he established, developed, and operated several companies including a hydroelectric plant in Belize and a law firm in Monterrey, Mexico.
GREEN | DELILAH BARRIOS: Barrios was born in Brownsville, and has lives in Port Isabel, South Padre Island and Houston. She cites the BP oil spill as one of the chief reasons she is running for governor.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
The lieutenant governor is the president of the Texas Senate, making this position the second-most powerful in our state’s government. Republican Dan Patrick is seeking his third stint in the role, having first been elected in 2014.
REPUBLICAN | DAN PATRICK: Patrick says his top priorities are “securing the border, reducing property and business taxes, standing up for the Second Amendment and addressing Texas’ infrastructure challenges.”
DEMOCRAT | MIKE COLLIER: Collier says he first entered politics to fight for Texas public schools, saying that “after seeing money gutted from our public schools year after year, he put his career aside to run for office and hold our state leaders accountable.”
LIBERTARIAN | SHANNA STEELE: Steele says her goal is to “send Dan Patrick to retirement.”
ATTORNEY GENERAL
The attorney general is the state’s chief legal officer, and is a race featuring an incumbent facing seven-year-old fraud indictments, a whistleblower lawsuit and an FBI bribery investigation.
REPUBLICAN | KEN PAXTON: Paxton calls himself a prominent voice in the defense of religious liberty, and a defender of the free enterprise system. He says intends to continue to “fight against overreaching government regulations which harm Texas jobs and economic growth.”
DEMOCRAT | ROCHELLE MERCEDES GARZA: Garza says her top issues are health care, protecting civil rights, consumer protection, legalizing cannabis, and immigration/border issues.
LIBERTARIAN | MARK ASH: The border is one of Ash’s top priorities. He recently wrote “Reasonable border security does not include a wall paid for by the taxpayers of Texas. Border security is the job of the federal government. The state can assist and cooperate with border patrol by arresting those who have committed violent crimes.”
COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS
The comptroller is Texas’ chief financial officer — the state’s treasurer, check writer, tax collector, procurement officer and revenue estimator. Republican Glenn Hegar is seeking a third term in office.
REPUBLICAN | GLENN HEGAR: Hegar says he “believes a less-burdensome tax system will foster a better environment for job creation and business expansion, and thus a healthier Texas economy.”
DEMOCRAT | JANET T. DUDDING: Dudding says “we’re overpaying for services that don’t offer any real benefits. We’re paying $100M more in state taxes to deny comprehensive mental healthcare. We’re letting our property taxes pick up the tab when indigent care becomes crisis care. We’re letting corporations skate on property tax giveaways.”
LIBERTARIAN | V. ALONZO ECHEVARRIA-GARZA: Echevarria-Garza previously served as finance director for the City of Port Isabel.
COMMISSIONER OF THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE
The Texas General Land Office primarily serves the schoolchildren, veterans, and the environment of Texas by preserving history, maximizing state revenue through administration, and through the stewardship of state lands and natural resources.
REPUBLICAN | DAWN BUCKINGHAM: Buckingham says her focus will be on fighting inflation and lowering costs for Texas families, securing the border, unleashing Texas energy and fighting the Green New Deal, and protecting public education funding.
DEMOCRAT | JAY KLEBERG: Some of Kleberg’s top issues are improving the performance of the Permanent School Fund, responsibly managing public lands, reducing carbon emissions, and preparing for natural disasters.
LIBERTARIAN | ALGRED MOLISON JR.: Molison says “improving the infrastructure that serves the public is my primary goal.”
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE
The agency’s key objectives are to promote production agriculture, consumer protection, economic development and healthy living.
REBPUBLICAN | SID MILLER: Water is among Miller’s top priorities, saying “without water, there is no agriculture. Without water, there is no economy. Without water, there is no life. Water is the most essential substance in the world and Texas is running out of it.”
DEMOCRAT | SUSAN HAYS: Hays says her goals are to “clean up” the office of the agriculture commissioner, support rural healthcare and economic development, and promote economically and environmentally substantive agriculture.
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER
The Railroad Commission of Texas (Commission) is the state agency with primary regulatory jurisdiction over the oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, and coal and uranium surface mining operations.
REPUBLICAN | WAYNE CHRISTIAN: Christian says he “understands that big government increases costs for consumers and kills high paying jobs, while harming our economy and national security. He believes all regulations should be consistent, predictable, and based on sound science.”
DEMOCRAT | LUKE WARFORD: Warford says “Texas has been an energy leader for decades, with oil and gas jobs helping millions of Texans provide for their families. In order for energy jobs to continue to be the backbone of the Texas economy for decades to come, we need a Texas Railroad Commission that embraces technology, innovation, and science.”
LIBERTARIAN | JAIME ANDRES DIEZ: Diez says “The prerogative of the commission should be to protect groundwater, taxpayers and landowners. And the current commission has failed on all these points.”
GREEN | HUNTER WAYNE CROW: Crow says he is running “because we cannot have a healthy humanity without a healthy natural world. Humans are part of nature and rely on the resources of nature for our very existence. We can’t continually harm major parts of the natural world without suffering the consequences.”
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT, PLACE 3
REPUBLICAN | DEBRA LEHRMANN: Lehrmann is the longest serving female Supreme Court Justice in Texas history and serves as the Senior Justice on the Court.
DEMOCRAT | ERIN A. NOWELL: Nowell serves on the Fifth District Court of Appeals, Place 5, an appellate court with general jurisdiction to hear all appeals from six North Texas counties.
LIBERTARIAN | THOMAS EDWARD OXFORD: Oxford has no public candidate page or information.
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT, PLACE 5
REPUBLICAN | REBECA HUDDLE: Huddle was originally appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas by Governor Greg Abbott in October 2020.
DEMOCRAT | AMANDA REICHEK: Reichek was elected to the Fifth District Court of Appeals in 2018.
JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT, PLACE 9
REPUBLICAN | EVAN YOUNG: Before being asked to serve on the Texas Supreme Court, Young was a partner at Texas’s oldest law firm, Baker Botts L.L.P.
DEMOCRAT | JULIA MALDONADO: Maldonado is the Presiding Judge of the 507th Family District Court in Harris County, having been elected in November 2016.
JUDGE, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS, PLACE 5
REPUBLICAN | SCOTT WALKER: Walker is looking to retain is position on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Previously, Walker litigated more than 40 jury trials and more than 100 appeals.
DEMOCRAT | DANA HUFFMAN: Huffman has 25 years of combined legal and judicial experience, and she has presided over hundreds of bench and jury trials.
JUDGE, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS, PLACE 6
REPUBICAN | JESSE F. McCLURE III: Before being appointed to the court in 2020, McClure presided over the 339th District Court in Harris County.
DEMOCRAT | ROBERT JOHNSON: Johnson is currently a judge in the 177th Criminal District Court in Harris County.
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