Mike Collier, the two-time Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Texas’ system for independent candidates to get on the ballot. Collier, who announced last November that he would run again as an independent, says the bar for an independent candidate to get on the ballot is so high as to be insurmountable.
Background on Texas Ballot Rules
Under Texas law, any political party that got at least 20% of the vote during the last election cycle nominates their candidates through primary elections, which the state pays for. However, independent candidates must submit a petition with the number of signatures equal to 1% of the total vote for governor in the preceding election — more than 81,000 to get on the 2026 ballot.
Collier estimates he would need 1,500 volunteers gathering several signatures an hour, which is a challenge since about two-thirds of the people he has encountered during the petition drives are disqualified because they voted in the primary. He sought bids for companies to help him gather the signatures — one came in at over $3.2 million, even before the timeline was cut short.
Collier is joined in the lawsuit by several notable political figures, including former U.S. Rep. and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett, former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley, former state Sen. Kel Seliger and Sarah Stogner, a West Texas district attorney.
Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
