With the Republican and Democratic primary runoffs over, independent candidates in Texas are racing to collect hundreds or thousands of signatures to get on the ballot. In Bexar County, several candidates are hustling to meet the deadline, including Gerard Villalobos, who is running for U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro’s 20th Congressional District seat, and Jason Wolff, who is waging an independent bid for District Attorney.

Signature Requirements

State law requires independent candidates to collect signatures from people who didn’t vote in either party’s primary. The collection process starts after the primaries and must be submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by June 25. Villalobos has been trying to collect signatures for two months but doubts he will reach the required 500 signatures.

Wolff, a defense attorney, is running for District Attorney and needs to collect 500 signatures. He has about 30 volunteers helping his campaign and thinks he will meet the signature requirements. Mike Collier, who is running as an independent candidate for lieutenant governor, needs more than 80,000 signatures for his statewide race.

National Group Supports Independent Candidates

A national group, the Forward Party, is supporting independent candidates in Texas and has joined a lawsuit against the state over its signature requirements. The party argues that the compressed timeline to collect signatures and the restrictions on who can sign are aimed at keeping independent candidates off the ballot.

Original reporting: San Antonio Report — read the source article.