Texas is one of two states that have the most candidates running for U.S. House since 2014

THE WOODLANDS, TX – This year’s first congressional primaries are less than a month away, and both Texas and Illinois have record numbers of candidates and open districts this year. The totals for both are the highest since 2014.

Here’s a closer look at the congressional primaries in Texas.

Two hundred fifty-two candidates — 98 Democrats and 154 Republicans — are running for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts on March 3.

Ten districts are open this year, compared to three districts in 2024, six in 2022, six in 2020, eight in 2018, two in 2016, and one in 2014. An average of 11.2 candidates are running for each of the 10 open seats, compared to an average of five candidates running in each of the 28 districts, with incumbents running.

These are the first elections to take place since the Texas Legislature passed and Governor Greg Abbott signed a new congressional map in August 2025.

In a recent episode of Ballotpedia’s On The Ballot, the Texas Tribune’s Gabby Birenbaum explained how the redrawn map is driving competition in this year’s congressional primaries: “In multiple districts, you had multiple Democratic incumbents drawn into the same district…This is going to be a massive opportunity for Republicans… to make that jump to Congress. So you have a lot of interest in these seats. There’s going to be competitive Republican primaries in the open seats. And you had a lot of members sort of scrambling to figure out where to run. Multiple members of the delegation [are] jumping to run for higher office or to run for local office in Texas. And so it’s really scrambled the delegation.”

Representatives Morgan Luttrell (R-8th), Michael McCaul (R-10th), Jodey Arrington (R-19th), Troy Nehls (R-22nd), Marc Veasey (D-33rd), and Lloyd Doggett (D-37th) are retiring from public office. Representatives Jasmine Crockett (D-30th) and Wesley Hunt (R-38th) are running for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Chip Roy (R-21st) is running for Texas attorney general.

Here are some interesting details about this year’s filings:

Two incumbents — Christian Menefee (D) and Al Green (D) — are running against each other in the redrawn 18th district. Menefee is the incumbent in the current 18th district, and Green is the incumbent in the 9th district. In 2024, only one U.S. House race – the Republican primary in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District – featured multiple incumbents.
Fifty-nine primaries — 32 Democratic and 28 Republican — are contested. This is the most since at least 2014. There were 39 contested primaries in 2024, 44 in 2022, 50 in 2020, 46 in 2018, 33 in 2016, and 19 in 2014.
Fifteen candidates are running in each of the open races in the 9th, 21st, and 35th districts, tying for the most in any district this year. In 2024, the largest number of candidates to run for a single seat was 14.
Nineteen incumbents — eight Democrats and 11 Republicans — are facing primary challengers this year. This ties with 2024, 2022, and 2016 for the most in a single year since 2014. There were 19 incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, 19 in 2022, 18 in 2020, 15 in 2018, 19 in 2016, and 12 in 2014.
Candidates are running in the Republican and Democratic primaries in all 38 districts. This means no districts are guaranteed to either party.

In Texas, primary winners are determined by majority vote. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates proceed to a runoff election. If needed, Texas will hold runoff elections on May 26.

Stay tuned to Woodlands Online for ongoing election coverage. On Tuesday, February 17 at 4:00 p.m., we will livestream the Montgomery County Judge Candidate Forum hosted by The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce Business Advocacy Council, and on Thursday, February 19 at 9:00 a.m. we will livestream the Congressional District 2 Candidate Forum hosted by The Woodlands Economic Development Partnership.