AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Texas on Election Day

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Texans will vote on a large menu of constitutional amendments Tuesday while some Houston voters will choose among 16 candidates from across the ideological spectrum in a special election to fill a vacant congressional seat.

Voters will check off whether they are “for” or "against” 17 state constitutional amendments on issues ranging from parents’ rights, judicial conduct, changes to the bail system, state taxes and more. Plus, there are citywide ballot measures, local and municipal elections and a Fort Worth state Senate race.

Most of the statewide ballot measures deal with taxes: capital gains (Proposition 2), animal feed (Proposition 5), and securities (Proposition 6), to name a few.

Two ballot measures in particular reflect national Republicans’ political messaging. Proposition 15 affirms “that parents are the primary decision makers for their children,” an animating issue for Gov. Greg Abbott and congressional Republicans. Proposition 16 clarifies “that a voter must be a United States citizen,” though it is already illegal for people who are not U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections. The Tarrant County Democratic Party’s voting guide says it remains “neutral” on Propositions 15 and 16 since they restate “existing law,” while the Bexar County Democratic Party uses that same reasoning to oppose both ballot measures.

Sixteen candidates are running in the 18th Congressional District, after the death of Rep. Sylvester Turner. If no candidate surpasses 50% of the vote, the top two vote getters will advance to a runoff election. Kamala Harris carried the Houston district, which includes George Bush Intercontinental Airport, by 40 percentage points in 2024, putting Democrats in a strong position to hold the seat.

The seat is vacant after two of its representatives died within less than a year of one another. Longtime Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died in July 2024. Her daughter, Erica Lee Carter, finished Jackson Lee’s term and endorsed Turner to fill the seat afterward. But Turner died two months into his term, spurring the upcoming special election.

Lee Carter endorsed Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, who also won support from high-profile Texas Democrats including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Colin Allred, and Beto O’Rourke.

Amanda Edwards – a former city council member who lost a primary challenge to Jackson Lee – is one of the top fundraisers in the race and has backing from EMILY’s List, a national group that supports women running for office. State Rep. Jolanda Jones, who represents part of Houston, is backed by LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. Isaiah Martin, who has more than 600,000 TikTok followers, is running as the self-described “Gen-Zer” candidate.

There are five Republican candidates on the ballot, including Theodis Daniel, the father of a childhood cancer survivor who was made an honorary Secret Service agent during Trump’s last Joint Speech to Congress. Also on the ballot is independent candidate George Edward Foreman IV, the son of the late heavyweight boxing champion.

Here’s a look at what to expect on Tuesday:

Polls close statewide at 7 p.m. local time, but the state is split into two times zones. Polls in most of Texas close at 8 p.m. ET., while polls in the westernmost part of the state close at 9 p.m. ET. The 18th Congressional District is located entirely within the Central Time Zone, so polls there close at 8 p.m. ET.

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in the special election in the 18th Congressional District and for 17 statewide ballot measures.

Any registered voter in Texas may cast a ballot on the 17 statewide ballot measures. Any voter registered in the 18th Congressional District may participate in the special election.

As of January, there were about 18.3 million registered voters in Texas. Voters do not register by party.

In the 2024 presidential election, turnout was about 61% of registered voters. About 80% of voters in that election were cast before Election Day.

There were just shy of 420,000 voters registered in the 18th Congressional District in that election, and roughly 52% of them voted in that election. About 78% of ballots were cast early or by absentee before Election Day.

As of Oct. 28, a total of 759,969 ballots had been cast before Election Day. See the AP Early Vote Tracker for the latest update.

In the 2024 presidential election, the AP first reported results at 8 p.m. ET, just as polls closed in the Central Time Zone. By the time polls closed in the Mountain Time Zone at 9 p.m. ET, about 62% of votes had been counted. More than 99% of the vote had been counted by noon ET the following day.

In the 18th Congressional District race that year, the AP first reported results at 8:31 p.m. ET. By 9:07 a.m. ET the following morning, 99% of the vote had been tabulated.

As of Tuesday, there will be 364 days until the 2026 midterm elections and 1,099 days until the 2028 general election.

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Associated Press writer Robert Yoon contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2025 election at https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2025/.