Texas Third Parties

Elections and campaigns play a big part of the democratic system. Elections are conducted every two years and are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years. States must elect members of Congress and vote for president on this date. Durning non-presidential years in Texas, general elections are held every two years to elect candidates to statewide offices such as governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, land commissioner, agricultural commissioner, comptroller, and some members of the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas State Board of Education. The Decision of which ballot form and method of casting ballots in given to each county in Texas and the secretary of state’s office must approve …show more content…
For example, in order to run for a statewide office a candidate’s signatures must equal one percent of the votes cast for governor in the past general elections. Gaining signatures on a petition is not easy. Each signer is required to be a registered voter and must not have participated in the primary elections of other parties in that electoral cycle. A minor party, also known as a third party, is defined as a political organization that receives between 5 and 19 percent of the total votes cast for any statewide office in the past election. Parties can nominate their candidate in a party caucus once the party has received minor party status. A party caucus is defined as a meeting of members of a political party to nominate candidates and is used only by minor political parties in Texas. Only the democratic and republican parties hold the status of being a major party. The Texas Election code defines a major party as an organization that receives 20 percent or more of the total votes cast for governor in the past election. These organizations then nominate their candidates for the November general election in a primary