On Wednesday night, the Democratic Party sent out a text message inviting voters to the headquarters to sign petitions for two judicial candidates. I found it unusual to see the party assisting two candidates while not offering that same support to other judicial candidates. But what stood out even more was a statement included in the text:
“Every candidate for judge is required to get petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
That claim is false.
Text message sent by the Democratic Party, Chris Hernandez/El Paso Herald Post
I can’t let misinformation slide – even if it was an accident – so I reached out to Democratic Party Chair Michael Apodaca to get clarity on what was going on.
Chairman Apodaca responded by text:
“Only judicial candidates who need to get signatures are Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals candidates. They have to get 50 signatures per Court of Appeal district.”
For all other judicial candidates, he explained:
“State district courts and county courts ONLY either pay the filing fee OR file by petition (500 signatures).”
He also clarified why the petition event focused only on the two statewide candidates:
“Typically, it’s a practice throughout the state for the county party to assist the Supreme Court and CCA candidates with signatures… typically they are unopposed, but this year there will be two on Place 7, and we helped both.”
Why the Wording Matters
While I very much appreciate the response and clarity from the Chairman, the text message did not say “statewide.” It said:
“every candidate for judge…”
One missing word completely changed the meaning.
A first-time candidate considering a local judicial race could easily have read that and assumed they were suddenly required to gather signatures over a weekend – which is not true. With the filing deadline only days away, wording like that can discourage people from running at all.
Accuracy isn’t a small detail in election messaging. It directly affects how voters – and potential candidates – understand the process.
The Bottom Line
Only statewide judicial candidates are required to gather petition signatures.
All other judicial candidates can qualify simply by paying the filing fee.
The Democratic Party’s text overstated the requirement – maybe unintentionally – but the effect is the same: voters and potential candidates were given incorrect information.
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