Confusion over the date of the Texas primary and the possibility of re-opening the filing period for candidates continues to frustrate local and state officials.

“I don’t remember seeing anything like this before,” Johnson County Elections Administrator Patty Bourgeois said on Wednesday.

Johnson County Democratic Party Chairman Bill Conover called the situation a major headache. Which is likely one of the few pieces of common ground between he and Johnson County Republican Party Chairman Henry Teich.

“It’s a totally different ball game we’re in,” Teich said. “It’s just incredible and very frustrating for everyone.”

Last year’s redistricting complicated the situation, probably more than anyone could have predicted.

Population growth reflected in the 2010 Census required the — Republican majority — legislature to redistrict the state. Thanks to population growth, the state gained four new congressional seats.

The redistricting maps drawn and approved by the legislature drew criticism and lawsuits from several Democratic legislators and other groups. They argued, among other things, that the maps don’t take into account, and dilute, the voting power of minorities, who accounted for the majority of population growth.

Texas is one of several states requiring preclearance from the U.S. Justice Department before being allowed to institute new redistricting maps.

On a local level, the legislative maps took Johnson County out of Congressional District 17 and placed it into CD-25. That change meant that U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, would no longer represent Johnson County should he win re-election in November. The change created an open seat, which prompted more than 10 candidates to declare their intentions to run.

A federal court in Washington, D.C., declined to preclear the new maps pending a trial on the matter.

Because of that, another federal court in San Antonio instituted interim maps to get Texas through this year’s primary and general election. Those maps differ from the legislative maps in several ways. On a local level, they return Johnson County back to CD-17.

Because of the controversy, the period for candidates to file was pushed forward last year and then extended again. That filing period eventually closed on Dec. 15.

A plan, reached by state Democrats and Republicans, moved the Texas primary from March 6 to April 3

A second filing period was also announced in early January, which called for ending the new period on Feb. 1 and beginning it at a time to be determined.

Under the plan new candidates could file, and those who filed earlier could withdraw should they so choose and receive a refund on their filing fee.

With the matter of redistricting still in the courts, a new filing period seems unlikely, or at least unlikely to occur between now and Feb. 1.

Some fear Texas’ primary date may get pushed forward again.



Court inaction

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and other state Republicans asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the matter in December. The Court granted the request and heard arguments on the issue of the legality of the San Antonio court instituted interim maps on Jan. 9.

The Court heard argument, but has made no ruling. They appear to be awaiting the outcome of the related case in the Washington, D.C., court, a case which is ongoing.

“My feeling is that the D.C. court is going to rule in our favor,” Conover said. “That the [legislative] maps were not proper. The big question is what the Supreme Court is going to do after that. From some of the questioning during [oral arguments] you get the feeling they may be considering having two primaries [in Texas], which would be a nightmare.”

Pushing the primary back already poses a huge problem, Teich said, given that the Republican Party’s state convention is June 7-9.

With a later primary, and any subsequent runoff races, delegates will be hard pressed to prepare their committee and other work in time for the convention.

“I also think that probably played a role in Perry stepping aside,” Teich said. “He was probably expecting to get a boost from the early Texas primary, which obviously isn’t going to happen now.”

Texas Democrats hold their state primary on June 8-9. Their situation is less pressing given that President Barack Obama is guaranteed the Democratic nomination.

“It’s still a problem though,” Conover said. “We’re not expecting many runoffs in state Democratic primaries. Usually though, you have the primaries well before the convention, then the candidates go to the convention, and they get exposure from the people before and during. This is going to be pressing it.”

State-level officials are also concerned.

The Republican Party of Texas on Jan. 12 filed an advisory with the U.S. Supreme Court addressing the consequences of moving the Texas primary beyond mid April.

“The RPT became concerned that the Supreme Court was under the mistaken impression that it was workable to hold a unified primary as late as June 26,” RPT State Chairman Steve Munisteri said in a release.

Munisteri said it would be impossible to move the primary that far back and still comply with the Texas Election Code.

“The reason is that the TEC requires the parties to have a state convention in June or July and then further mandates a process of selecting delegates to those conventions over a several weeks period of time,” Munisteri said. “This requirement, combined with the time it takes to organize a state convention, would make it impossible to hold a primary as last as June 26 and still have a convention in a timely fashion.

“In addition, it is not practically possible to reschedule either party’s state convention. The reason for this is that you have to line up a convention facility sometimes years in advance. The RPT has already contracted with the Fort Worth Convention Center and surrounding hotels.”

The biggest headache, Conover and Teich agree, is the confusion all of this is likely to cause among voters and the impact it will have on turnout when the Texas primary finally does come around.