The Dallas Morning News
Voters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area wait in line to cast their ballots.
Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News
A woman holds up a sticker after voting early at the Lakewood Branch Library in 2025.
Juan Figueroa/Staff Photographer
An official vote center sign is seen at Oak Lawn Branch Library in Dallas on the first day of early voting in the 2026 primaries.
Elías Valverde II/Staff Photographer
To help prepare voters for the midterm elections, our Editorial Board invited candidates in more than 30 races for local and statewide offices to interview with us. We also reviewed local tax elections and the related spending proposals.
We hope these recommendations will help inform your vote. In addition, you can find candidate questionnaires for these and other races in our Voter Guide at dallasnews.com/voterguide.
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State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, is the only good choice for the U.S. Senate. Texans deserve a senator who can engage in bipartisan conversations to achieve progress in government. There are issues where he is to our left, but he’s demonstrated a refreshing openness to listening to people he disagrees with and finding middle ground. What’s more, he’s honest. We can’t say that of his opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Texans deserve an independent senator, not someone who pledges to be a puppet.
We have long supported Gov. Greg Abbott, but he has lost our recommendation. Nor can we recommend state Rep. Gina Hinojosa for Texas governor. Abbott’s disinterest in engaging with anyone who might challenge his increasingly far-right views, his inability to answer abuses of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and his mission to reshape higher courts to the MAGA right is disheartening. Hinojosa, however, offers no good, practical solutions to the state’s challenges. Her idea for education reform is to erase the progress we’ve made. Her plan to send out a one-time, $1,500 check will only boost inflation, hurting the state’s economy. We offer no recommendation in this race.
Lieutenant Governor: No recommendation
We cannot in good conscience recommend Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the leader of the state Senate and MAGA champion, but we cannot recommend his Democratic opponent, state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, either. Patrick’s efficiency sometimes delivers for the common good, such as his push to lower property taxes. Yet he governs without compromise, shutting Democrats out of leadership roles and bullying fellow Republicans into falling in line with his ultraconservative agenda. Goodwin has a more inclusive message, but she lacks the leadership record or policy depth to back it up. Among her proposals is a state-run health insurance plan that has no realistic path to passage.
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Attorney General: Nathan Johnson
If someone can restore honor to this office after the Ken Paxton years, it’s Democrat Nathan Johnson. In the eight years he has served in the state Senate, he has proved to be an effective legislator and an independent thinker who puts principle over politics. Johnson wants to return the AG’s office to its meat-and-potatoes work, including consumer protection. His opponent, GOP state Sen. Mayes Middleton, ran as “MAGA Mayes” during the primary, confirming that he will be an instrument of his party. Middleton’s legislative work has focused on inserting religion into government.
Land Commissioner: Dawn Buckingham
We would like to see Republican incumbent Dawn Buckingham back away from some of her culture war impulses, but we see her as a capable manager, willing to break ranks with her party. She stood up to the Trump administration this summer over a border wall in Big Bend. Under her leadership, land holdings have grown and leases have generated more than $6 billion for public schools. Democrat Benjamin Flores, a cybersecurity expert and Bay City council member, has made opposition to school vouchers a major theme of his campaign.
Agriculture Commissioner: Nate Sheets
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We recommend Republican Nate Sheets over Democrat Clayton Tucker. Sheets, founder of Nature Nate’s honey brand, has more experience leading large organizations. He also knows how to partner with other agencies, which will be important given the scope of his agenda. Tucker is campaigning on many of the same issues as Sheets, but offers less experience. After 12 years of current commissioner Sid Miller, whose tenure was marked by small-minded social media posts, Texas growers deserve a representative who can tackle big problems with big ideas.
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt is a serious person, a critical thinker and a responsible steward of taxpayer money. Eckhardt served as Travis County judge and commissioner before her election to the Senate in 2020. She helped lead Travis County to lower property taxes three times while delivering balanced budgets. We readily recommend her over acting Comptroller Don Huffines to keep watch over the state’s finances. We have recommended Republicans for this post in the past, particularly Glenn Hegar who ran the office professionally and conservatively. We don’t have confidence that either value would mark a Huffines tenure.
Railroad Commissioner: Jon Rosenthal
We recommend Democrat Jon Rosenthal, an engineer who has field experience in the oil and gas industry and has a clear understanding of how the agency should work. As a Democratic state representative, he has filed bills that show he is serious about energy and the office he is pursuing. Rosenthal told us he is not opposed to reforming the agency, but it first has to be better at what it does now, including enforcing the regulations it already has. His GOP opponent, Bo French, has made a name for himself over his racist rhetoric.
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Texas Supreme Court, Chief Justice: Jimmy Blacklock
Both of the two judges running for head seat on the Texas Supreme Court have displayed behavior we consider too partisan. Between the two, however, incumbent Republican Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock is the better option. He described his judicial philosophy as both textualist and constitutional originalist. Blacklock has more experience, can point to decisions in which he stood up to the GOP and has advocated for important judicial reforms. His opponent, Democratic appellate Judge Maggie Ellis, was too progressive in an interview with us. She cited a court ruling she described as “an attack on my community” as motivating her candidacy.
Texas Supreme Court, Place 2: Chari Kelly
Seven of the nine justices who sit on Texas’ highest civil appellate court were originally appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. All are Republicans. Voters should elect longtime Democratic appellate Judge Chari Kelly and give the court a measure of balance. Kelly has served on the 3rd Court of Appeals and in several other legal roles before that, including as an assistant attorney general under Greg Abbott. Her opponent, James P. Sullivan, previously served as Abbott’s general counsel and was appointed to the Supreme Court last year. In 2012, he was scolded by a federal judge for filing a “disturbingly unprofessional” petition.
Texas Supreme Court Place 7: Kristen Hawkins
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Incumbent Justice Kyle Hawkins was appointed by the governor to the Supreme Court last year. He is competing with state District Judge Kristen Hawkins (no relation) for the full term. We recommend voters choose Kristen Hawkins. She demonstrated the knowledge, skill and temperament Texans should expect from their judges. Kristen Hawkins has presided over more than 200 trials, is board-certified in judicial administration and has been favorably rated in the Houston Bar poll. Kyle Hawkins’ history of activism and his role in the Trump administration’s second-term Department of Justice transition team make us uneasy.
Texas Supreme Court, Place 8: Brett Busby
Two experienced justices are in a rematch of the 2020 race for Place 8 on the Texas Supreme Court. Both are qualified, but we recommend the incumbent, Brett Busby, over challenger Gisela Triana. Busby, a Republican, has served on the court since 2019, when he was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott. He previously sat on the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. He is among the court’s most productive members and oversees the Texas Access to Justice Commission. Democrat Gisela Triana has experience at almost every level of the judiciary and is currently a justice on the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3: Okey Anyiam
We recommend Democrat Okey Anyiam over Republican Thomas Smith, with reservations. Anyiam has been a criminal defense attorney for over 25 years, and his commitment to following the letter of the law and not legislating from the bench is the right one. However, he doesn’t have experience as a prosecutor and has not previously drafted appellate opinions. That said, he strikes us as a better choice than Smith, who is tying his campaign to Attorney General Ken Paxton. That is alarming. Smith previously worked in private civil practice and served as a law clerk to former Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.
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Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4: Kevin Yeary
Incumbent Republican Judge Kevin Yeary is by far the best choice for this seat on Texas’ highest criminal appellate court. The nine-member court has already lost a great deal of experience in recent election cycles, with two highly tenured judges opting not to seek reelection. Yeary has occupied this seat since 2015. Though we question some of his far-right opinions over the years, we do not question Yeary’s dedication to the court. His opponent, Criminal District Court No. 3 Judge Audra Riley, has served respectably since she was elected in 2020, but didn’t demonstrate a deep understanding of the appellate court.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9: Holly Taylor
Since 2015, Judge David Newell has presided with distinction over Place 9. He is not seeking reelection this year. Neither of the two candidates competing for his seat has ever been a judge, but our nod goes to Democratic attorney Holly Taylor. She has a broader, more balanced perspective, having worked as both a prosecutor and defense lawyer as well as for the appeals court itself. Taylor also has practiced law for nearly a decade longer than GOP opponent John Messinger, who calls himself a “career appellate prosecutor.”
5th Court of Appeals, Place 3: Amanda Reichek
In 2024, the GOP swept seven of the eight places up for grabs in this court, sending several incumbents packing. That election cycle saw well-regarded judges replaced by lawyers with no judicial experience. Voters should return one of the ousted judges, Amanda Reichek, to this court. Experienced, even-handed and respectable, the Dallas lawyer told us she’s maintained relationships with other judges on the court and would be ready to hear cases on her first day. Her opponent is Republican civil lawyer Matthew Kolodoski.
5th Court of Appeals, Place 6: Ben Smith
Two experienced and well-regarded trial court judges are competing for this seat. It was a tough choice for us, but we recommend Republican Judge Ben Smith because of his philosophy on interpreting the law and his broader judicial experience. Smith, who presides over a general-jurisdiction court in Collin County, told us he aligns with a philosophy of judicial restraint, meaning that judges should go by a strict reading of statutes and avoid broad interpretations. His opponent, Democratic Judge Monica Purdy, is a Dallas County civil trial court judge with high marks in the local bar association poll. Voters can’t go wrong with either judge.
5th Court of Appeals, Place 8: Ashley Wysocki
We recommend Republican Judge Ashley Wysocki for the breadth of her experience and her dispassionate, analytical approach to applying the law. Both Wysocki and her opponent, Democratic Judge Andrea Plumlee, are capable jurists who serve in family courts, but Wysocki has also served on civil courts. We appreciated Plumlee’s approach to litigants, which seemed compassionate, even pastoral. We also appreciated Wysocki’s view that appellate judges have to also extend compassion to all parties who might be affected by the precedent the court establishes. We think Plumlee is well-suited to trial court, and Wysocki is the stronger fit for the appellate bench.
Texas House District 66: Matt Shaheen
We recommend voters choose veteran Rep. Matt Shaheen to represent the district that covers a fast-growing portion of Collin County. Shaheen is a serious and engaged legislator. He has served in the House since 2015, and before that he was a Collin County commissioner. He is a conservative who is true to his word and has a proven track record in the Legislature working to maintain Texas’ strong economy and focusing on workforce development. Also running is Democrat Sandeep Srivastava.
Texas House District 67: Jeff Leach
Voters in Collin County should return GOP incumbent Jeff Leach for another term. He is a highly effective legislator with a moral core that is hard to find in politics these days. Leach has a record for standing up for his principles, even at a high political and personal cost. He is in line with a GOP proposal to eliminate school property taxes and replace that funding with state revenue. We are skeptical of this reform, but, as a strong fiscal conservative, Leach is the right person to weigh in. Also running is Democrat Jordan Wheatley, a school teacher.
Texas House District 70: Mihaela Plesa
Democratic Rep. Mihaela Plesa has earned another term in her Collin County district. Plesa is an engaged and collaborative lawmaker, building bipartisan coalitions while advocating for public schools, survivors of domestic violence and people with disabilities. She has also taken a thoughtful approach to energy policy and affordability issues affecting North Texans. Republican challenger George Flint brings extensive legal, judicial and community experience, but Plesa has already demonstrated an ability to translate ideas into legislation. She has momentum, and voters should send her back to the House.
Texas House District 94: Katie O’Brien Duzan
We recommend voters choose marketing executive Katie O’Brien Duzan, a Democrat, to represent this Mid-Cities district. In our candidate interview, O’Brien Duzan told us she’s focused first on her district and that she isn’t “a culture wars person.” O’Brien Duzan opposes an expansion to the state’s voucher-like program but broke somewhat with the norm in her party by expressing openness to teacher pay-for-performance. O’Brien Duzan favors reducing the local property tax burden by raising the state’s basic allotment for education. Republican business owner Cheryl Bean is also running for the seat.
Texas House District 108: Morgan Meyer
GOP incumbent Morgan Meyer and Democrat Allison Mitchell are vying to represent some of the most affluent neighborhoods in Texas. We recommend Meyer. He is an experienced lawmaker who now leads the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over bills concerned with local and state taxes. He helped shepherd property tax relief measures, including the most recent increase in the general homestead exemption to $140,000. Meyer also chaired the House committee that investigated the July 2025 flash flood tragedy in Central Texas. Mitchell is an entrepreneur whose focus is on adequate funding for public education.
Texas House District 112: Angie Chen Button
Voters should return GOP Rep. Angie Chen Button to Austin for another term. Since 2009, Button has done good work to reach across the aisle to pass bipartisan legislation and focus on policy questions rather than culture wars. She brings a wealth of experience and leadership. Her Democratic opponent Zach Herbert is a serious candidate. He has nuanced positions on pursuing new technologies like Flock cameras and data centers, if there are guardrails in place. However, we think Button’s legislative resume has earned her another term.
Texas House District 115: Cassandra Garcia Hernandez
We recommend Democrat Cassandra Garcia Hernandez for reelection. In her first term, she invested herself in learning the inner workings of the Legislature and crafted some smart bills. Garcia Hernandez opposed Senate Bill 840, a law that allows apartments in commercial districts by right and that we support. She told us she is open to revisions to the law that exempt cities that already have a lot of affordable housing, citing Irving as an example. Garcia Hernandez also understands the importance of bipartisanship for the minority party to get things done. Her opponent is Republican Danny Rosellini, a small business owner.
Texas Senate District 9: Taylor Rehmet
We recommend Democratic incumbent Taylor Rehmet to represent this Tarrant County district. Chosen by voters in a special election earlier this year, Rehmet has quickly established himself as a pragmatic and thoughtful public servant. He speaks about affordability in a sophisticated way and offers a nuanced discussion of the Texas Education Agency’s takeover of Fort Worth ISD. We would like to see him serve a full term and believe his sensible approach will serve the district well. Republican challenger Leigh Wambsganss has a history of promoting culture war issues.
State Board of Education District 9: No recommendation
Democratic candidate Ericka Ledferd and Republican Kason Huddleston are competing to represent this SBOE district that spans part of Dallas County and a large swath of East Texas. Neither candidate measures up to what voters should expect. Huddleston, a pastor, has signed the Texas First Pledge, which includes a promise to support the state’s secession. Ledferd struck us as passionate about education, but we found her policy ideas to be thin. She was noncommittal on, or opposed to, measures the state has taken to improve the education system.
State Board of Education, District 13: Tiffany Clark
We recommend Democratic incumbent Tiffany Clark, although we are not fully aligned with her hesitations around education reforms like the Teacher Incentive Allotment program, a pay-for-performance plan. Clark was elected to represent this SBOE district in 2024 and previously served as a DeSoto ISD trustee. She said she was troubled by the revised social studies standards the board passed this year. Also running is Republican Carlos Garza, who previously served on SBOE representing another district. We worry he would favor injecting even more religious instruction into public schools.
State Board of Education, District 14: Amy Taylor
Voters should select Denton teacher Amy Taylor, a Democrat, for this open seat on the board that sets curriculum standards and approves instructional materials for Texas public schools. Taylor spoke knowledgeably about classroom challenges, communicating with parents, the difficulty of trying to cover overloaded lists of essential knowledge and skills in class, and how political rhetoric has made teachers’ jobs harder. We support the state’s experiment with private school vouchers while she doesn’t, but we appreciate her openness to public charter schools. The other candidate, Republican Mindy Bumgarner, offers only generic statements about parental rights and school choice on her campaign website.
Dallas County District Attorney: No recommendation
Democratic nominee Amber Givens and write-in candidate Eric Reed are seeking to lead the Dallas County district attorney’s office. Givens, a former state district judge, has a troubling record marked by concerns about courtroom management and temperament. Reed, a longtime attorney and former prosecutor, criticized Givens’ record but failed to present a convincing vision for leading the office of roughly 600 employees. Neither candidate demonstrated the leadership voters should expect for one of Dallas County’s most important elected offices.
Dallas County Judge: Clay Lewis Jenkins
Democrat Clay Lewis Jenkins is seeking a fifth term as Dallas County judge, and we believe voters should return him to office. Jenkins has helped the county navigate public health crises, such as an Ebola disease outbreak and the pandemic, natural disasters and economic downturns. He has supported investing county resources to address countywide problems such as the lack of affordable housing and childcare. Challenger Mike Immler is a U.S. Air Force veteran with executive-level management experience at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service. He described himself as an independent-minded conservative — a type of candidate we’d like to see more frequently.
Collin County Judge: Chris Hill
Republican incumbent Chris Hill is the best candidate to lead one of Texas’ fastest growing counties. Voters should return him to office for another term. Hill’s leadership has centered on lowering the tax burden on residents. Although there are times when it makes sense to commit additional public money to improving service or infrastructure, it’s important in any governing body to have a voice that will challenge the bureaucratic tendency to ask taxpayers for more. Democrat John R. “Buster” Brown is also running but did not demonstrate he is prepared for this office.
Tarrant County Judge: Alisa Simmons
With reservations, we recommend Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons against GOP incumbent Tim O’Hare. O’Hare’s hostile handling of the Commissioners Court and his undemocratic decisions, like closing several polling places ahead of an important midterm election, are troubling. Simmons has been a vocal critic of the county’s finances. While she was supportive of tax cuts early in her tenure, she has voted against lower tax rates in the last two budget cycles, criticizing the county’s reliance on more than $7.7 million in reserves to fund unbudgeted costs. Simmons has not always reacted appropriately to O’Hare’s provocations, but she is the better choice in this race.
TAX ELECTIONS
Dallas County is asking voters to bump the tax rate by 2.4 cents to pay for a plan that would generate $100 million annually to address homelessness countywide. It’s a big ask of voters, but we recommend that they support the proposal. Housing Forward, the county’s lead agency on homelessness, has built credibility by reducing street homelessness in downtown Dallas. A key ingredient of the plan is a central intake and diversion hub that would triage cases and direct homeless people to immediate assistance. The plan provides for the addition of 100 deflection beds to divert low-level offenders from jail to a service that can stabilize them.
Collin County propositions A-D
We encourage Collin County voters to approve all four county bond propositions, which total $817.5 million. The county has added half a million residents since 2010, and it shows in the area’s congested roads and crowded county facilities. Proposition A would provide $296.5 million for criminal justice needs, including adding 550 beds to the jail. Proposition B would fund $475 million in transportation projects. The final two propositions total $46 million and would pay for parks and open space and a building for the election department and records storage. If passed, the county’s current debt service tax rate would stay about the same.
Dallas voters will find a $443 million public safety bond on their ballot. We recommend that voters approve Proposition A. The money is expected to fund a new police academy, a separate public safety training complex, relocation of emergency operations and 911, a new property room and crime lab and a Fire Station No. 4 replacement. Adding to Dallas’ debt load is not ideal. However, the five projects the city is pitching to voters are serious and immediate needs. The bond won’t increase the tax rate.
We recommend Garland voters approve the proposed tax rate of $0.6799 per $100 of valuation that would generate an additional $11 million to help increase staffing for the police and fire departments, parks, road maintenance and construction. The proposed tax rate is one cent lower than last year’s rate. It’s also roughly nine cents lower than seven years ago and the lowest overall rate in nearly two decades. Voters should support the measure that would allow Garland to keep pace with the city’s needs.
Plano voters should approve the package of venue-related taxes that will help fund the Dallas Stars’ $1 billion arena project proposed at The Shops at Willow Bend. The taxes are aimed at visitors, and the planned area will help revive the aging shopping mall. Investing in the arena could give Plano a boost as the city competes to attract visitors, employers and residents.
Like many mature school districts, Irving ISD has aging buildings and declining enrollment. It did not call any bond elections between 2007 and 2023. Now it is asking voters to approve $952 million in bonds to rebuild five campuses, upgrade cybersecurity and technology networks, and construct three multipurpose buildings at high schools. The district’s academic performance has been mediocre. Student achievement at Irving High School has improved significantly, however, so we suggest voters approve Proposition B. It would provide $300 million to replace the high school campus and increase the school property tax rate by about 4 cents per $100. We do not recommend the other measures.
This editorial is part of the Dallas Morning News Editorial Board’s slate of recommendations for the 2026 general election. Find the full project here.