A federal judge on Friday paused a bid by Texas Republicans to close the state's primary elections to only voters registered with the party.
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a stay on the federal case from the Texas GOP until the end of the next state legislative session, stating he expects lawmakers to succeed in closing primary elections during the next session.
He noted that lawmakers made an unsuccessful push during the previous legislative session.
What they're saying:
"Prominent Texas politicians support similar legislative action in the upcoming 2027 Regular Session," Kacsmaryk wrote.
Texas GOP sues Secretary of State to close elections
The backstory:
Last year, the Republican Party of Texas sued then-Secretary of State Jane Nelson in an effort to close the state's primary election.
Currently, anyone registered voter is eligible to vote in either party's primary election. Texas Republicans said the rule violates their First Amendment right to association.
"But Texas law, as enforced by Defendant Jane Nelson, the Texas Secretary of State ("the Secretary"), forces the Party to allow voters who may fundamentally oppose the Party’s principles and candidates to choose the Party’s nominees," the party said in the lawsuit.
At their 2025 State Republican Executive Committee, they voted to close the party's primaries. That was reiterated by Gov. Greg Abbott during this year's Texas Republican Convention, where he said he wants to make sure that "only Republicans vote in Republican primaries."
Nelson stepped down in June amid a push from some within the party for Abbott to fire her after saying election laws must be changed through the state legislature.
Robert Howden was appointed to be Nelson's successor. In a case filing, he said he would defend the state's open primary laws.
"The only thing that has changed in this case is the name of the defendant," the office wrote in an August 2026 filing.
Open or closed primary
Big picture view:
Texas is one of 15 states with completely open primaries, meaning that anyone who is registered to vote can vote in a specific party's primary without being a member of that party.
In contrast, only 10 states operate a closed primary where only members can vote in a party's primary.
The rest of the nation operates under rules that either allow independent voters to choose at the polls or allows the state to decide ahead of an election if they will allow unaffiliated voters or voters from another party to vote in their elections.
In his ruling, Kacsmaryk noted that Texas' primaries may not be a true open primary.
"Texas’s current primary system may be distinct from a pure open primary anyways, because voting in a Texas primary does entail some level of party affiliation," he wrote.
Both parties will be required to provide an update on the case at the end of the next legislative session.
The Source: Information in this article comes from a stay filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Information on the Republican Party of Texas' bid to close the state's primaries comes from previous FOX Local reporting.