Will Texas Democrats Have A Full Ticket?

We’ll know in 14 Days.

I first heard it on TikTok. Chelsea, the Chair of the Wichia County Democratic Party, said that at the JJ Dinner this weekend, Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder announced that Democrats would have a full ticket (as long as no one dropped before they filed). I immediately reached out to Scudder to confirm. He told me that the Texas Democrats have recruited candidates to run in every federal and state race, including the State House, State Senate, Congress, all Statewide seats, and the SBOE.

Big if true. (Like HUGE!!)

There are 14 days until the filing deadline, and I’ve been keeping track of who is on the ticket, according to the Secretary of State (SoS), here:

• Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

• Who Will Be On The 2026 Federal Ballot?

And Scudder reiterated, “We just have to make sure they file.” Which is fair, sometimes people back out at the last minute, for whatever reason. But even if we come close to filling the whole ticket, we’ll be doing pretty well.

But after not updating the lists over the weekend, I just updated them this evening and added many more Dems. And honestly, not that many Republicans, so I want to talk about some of what I’m seeing. How close are we to getting a full ticket? And how many more surprises can we expect?

Congressional seats.

Even though there are 14 days left for candidates to file, the outcome of the map remains unknown. Right now, we have the 2025 maps, but that could change again, or not. Knowing that, a bunch of candidates will likely wait until the last moment. Will they be in this district or that? Maybe, depending on the district, they’ll decide not to run at all.

It’s worth noting that most incumbents from the DFW, Travis County, or Bexar County areas have not yet filed for re-election. I definitely think a lot of people are holding out on filing for Congressional races until there is more certainty with the maps.

That being said, thus far, about 30 Dems are already on the ticket. Assuming that every incumbent or person who previously announced files, the only seat I haven’t heard anything about is TX36 (Brian Babin’s seat). And they may have someone for that seat, too, that’s waiting until the last minute to jump out.

Playing Devil’s Advocate for a moment.

While it would be absolutely fantastic to have every single seat with a Democratic candidate in it, if we don’t wind up with someone in every single seat, except, like, one seat (a hypothetical), and that’s a +70 (R) seat. Yeah, it would suck we didn’t get someone there, but we need to be realistic about what chances we had to flip it in the first place.

At the end of the day, a full slate isn’t about pretending we can win a district that elects Republicans by seventy points. It’s about showing up everywhere, building local infrastructure, and forcing the GOP to defend turf they usually take for granted. If the absolute worst-case scenario is one lonely outlier with zero realistic path, that’s still the strongest statewide showing Democrats will have mounted in years.

Statewide seats.

I think everyone knows we have these covered, including judicial races, which I know y’all want a list on, too. It’s next on my list of things to do.

Otherwise, for the statewide seats, in almost every race, not only do we have candidates, we’re going to have competitive primaries. Here are the statewide races:

• US Senate

• Governor

• Lt. Governor

• Attorney General

• Comptroller

• Commissioner of Agriculture

• Railroad Commissioner

• Land Commissioner

In 2022, the Democratic primary turnout at the top of the ticket was 1.07 million. In 2018, it was 1.04 million. You don’t really want to know about it before 2018. It was sad. With so many competitive primaries at the top of the ticket and down ballot, this aims to be a record-breaking turnout year for Democratic primary elections.

And while the true prize is winning the elections in November 2026, this will be a big test for Kendall Scudder.

Why a full slate matters.

A full slate changes how politics works on the ground. When there’s a Democrat on the ballot in every race, every voter in every corner of the state has a reason to show up. That helps the top of the ticket, the bottom of the ticket, and everybody in between.

It also puts Republicans on defense in places they’re used to ignoring. When every district has a candidate, GOP incumbents have to spend money, time, and attention in races they usually sleepwalk through. That doesn’t mean we flip every one of those seats, but it does mean we start building real name ID, volunteer lists, and donor networks in those districts. That’s how you turn “unwinnable” into “long shot,” and “long shot” into “weirdly competitive” over a few cycles.

And there’s another piece. Local organizing. A candidate in the race often becomes the organizing hub for that area. They’re the person who shows up at unions, churches, neighborhood meetings, and festivals. Even when they don’t win, they’re helping county parties grow their lists, train new volunteers, and make sure Democrats in that community know they’re not alone.

What this says about the TDP’s health, and the job Kendall Scudder is doing.

If Texas Democrats really have candidates for every seat, that tells us something important about the party’s internal health. Recruitment on this scale doesn’t happen by accident. It means county chairs are engaged, regional leaders are making calls, and people believe the party is worth running under, even in hard districts. That hasn’t always been the case.

It also suggests that Scudder and the current leadership are doing the unglamorous work of calling activists, convincing first-time candidates, connecting them with training and support, and reassuring people they won’t be left out on an island. For years, the rap on the TDP has been that candidates felt abandoned once they filed. If we’re seeing a real surge in people willing to put their names on the ballot, that’s at least a sign that something is shifting.

Recruitment alone doesn’t fix fundraising problems, messaging gaps, or rural collapse. It doesn’t automatically give us a coordinated statewide narrative or solve the midterm turnout cliff. But if you want to judge whether the party is serious about contesting power and not just sending fundraising emails, candidate recruitment is one of the first metrics you look at. And right now, that metric is looking a lot healthier than it has in a long time.

We’ve got fourteen days left to see if Texas Democrats can make history.

Fourteen days to find out whether the ambition matches the moment. Maybe we’ll land the full slate. Perhaps we’ll miss one impossible district. Either way, this is the strongest showing we’ve had in years, and the clearest sign yet that something is shifting.

• Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

• Who Will Be On The 2026 Federal Ballot?

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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