Candidates must file an application for the general primary ballot, and the application must include the required fee or substitute petition. Some candidates and party rules have extra petition/signature requirements, and precinct-chair contact information is confidential.
Sec. 172.021. APPLICATION REQUIRED. (a) To be entitled to a place on the general primary election ballot, a candidate must make an application for a place on the ballot. (b) An application must, in addition to complying with Section 141.031, be accompanied by the appropriate filing fee or a petition in lieu of the filing fee that satisfies the requirements prescribed by Section 141.062. A political party may not require payment of a fee as a condition to applying for a place on the ballot as a candidate for county chair or precinct chair. (b-1) Except as provided by Subsection (b-2), the authority receiving an application shall return it to the applicant as incomplete if the applicant submits payment of a fee that is returned for insufficient funds. The applicant may resubmit the application before the end of the filing period, but payment of the filing fee may not be made in the form of a check from the same account as that of the payment previously returned for insufficient funds. (b-2) If a payment of a filing fee is returned for insufficient funds after the end of the filing period, the application is not considered to be timely filed, and the authority receiving the application shall inform the applicant that the application was not valid. (c) An application filed by mail is considered to be filed at the time of its receipt by the appropriate authority. (d) The circulation of a petition to be filed under this subchapter in connection with a candidate's application for a place on the ballot does not constitute candidacy or an announcement of candidacy for purposes of the automatic resignation provisions of Article XVI, Section 65, or Article XI, Section 11, of the Texas Constitution. (e) A candidate for an office specified by Section 172.024(a)(8), (10), or (12), or for justice of the peace in a county with a population of more than 1.5 million, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a petition for a place on the primary ballot as a candidate for judicial office that complies with the requirements prescribed for the petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by this subsection is 250. If the candidate chooses to file the petition authorized by Subsection (b) in lieu of the filing fee, the minimum number of signatures required for that petition is increased by 250. Signatures on a petition filed under this subsection or Subsection (b) by a candidate covered by this subsection may not be obtained on the grounds of a county courthouse or courthouse annex. (f) A political party's state executive committee by rule may require that an application for the office of county chair be accompanied by a nominating petition containing the signatures of at least 10 percent of the incumbent precinct chairs serving on the county executive committee. (g) A candidate for the office of chief justice or justice, supreme court, or presiding judge or judge, court of criminal appeals, who chooses to pay the filing fee must also accompany the application with a petition that complies with the requirements prescribed for a petition authorized by Subsection (b), except that the minimum number of signatures that must appear on the petition required by this subsection is 50 from each court of appeals district. (h) An application for a place on the ballot as a candidate for precinct chair must, in addition to complying with Section 141.031, include: (1) an e-mail address at which the candidate receives correspondence relating to the candidate's campaign; (2) a telephone number at which the candidate can be reached; or (3) an e-mail address and a telephone number described by Subdivisions (1) and (2). (i) Notwithstanding Sections 141.035, 172.0221, and 172.028, information provided under Subsection (h) is confidential and does not constitute public information for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 211, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1986. Amended by Acts 1986, 69th Leg., 3rd C.S., ch. 14, Sec. 9, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 54, Sec. 13(b), eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 90, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 2, Sec. 7.09, eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 265, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 64, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 864, Sec. 125, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 5.13, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 219, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 883, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1163 (H.B. 2702), Sec. 15, eff. September 1, 2011. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1179 (S.B. 1073), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2015. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1179 (S.B. 1073), Sec. 15(1), eff. September 1, 2015. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 95 (S.B. 44), Sec. 3, eff. May 23, 2017. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1161 (H.B. 766), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.