Voters in central Texas head to active polling stations to vote, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Ricardo B. Brazziell/AP
Kelly Hall and his co-worker were playing the video game “Call of Duty” in the office of their Austin towing company, waiting for customers, when his friend turned his attention to another television.
The election results were up on the screen, and Hall was winning a race he didn’t even know he was still a part of.
Article continues below this ad
“I laughed,” Hall, 36, said. “I was like, ‘Bro, stop playing.’ And he’s like, ‘No, bro, look.’”
Sure enough, he was ahead of his Democratic opponent, Javi Andrade, by a decisive amount.
READ MORE: Democrats turned out in record numbers in Tuesday’s election. Will the enthusiasm carry to November?
Hall barely remembers the number of the solidly red Central Texas district he ran in or the name of his would-be Republican opponent, state Rep. Ellen Troxclair. He paid a total of $750 on the campaign, enough to cover the filing fee, then never touched a single yard sign or dirtied a sneaker blockwalking.
Article continues below this ad
Hall said he thought he had dropped out of the race back in January, when he said Democratic Party precinct chairs urged him to “do the right thing” and allow the party-backed Andrade to run unopposed. He decided to run for Round Rock mayor instead.
But on Tuesday, Hall beat Andrade by almost 3,000 votes after missing a December deadline to drop out in time for his name to be removed from ballots.
The bizarre outcome has thrown what would have been a low-profile race into chaos, with some of the state’s top election lawyers clashing over whose name will be on the ballot in November.
The Texas Democratic Party is moving to replace Hall, who it says is ineligible for the nomination because he is running in the Round Rock mayor’s race. But the Republican-controlled secretary of state’s office says the party cannot pick a substitute, potentially setting the stage for what could be a drawn-out legal battle.
Article continues below this ad
The district in question stretches from Burnet to Fredericksburg and Boerne and also encompasses Austin’s northwest suburbs like Lakeway. It has been represented by Troxclair since 2023. It is overwhelmingly Republican and went for President Donald Trump by 70% in 2024.
Hall, meanwhile, says he shifted his attention to the mayor’s race.
‘I spent nothing’
Data centers inspired Hall’s plunge into politics. Specifically, their move into Round Rock, which recently approved a rezoning request to allow one of the facilities in the city, according to local reporting.
Article continues below this ad
“I see things in my state and my community that I don’t agree with,” Hall said. “Instead of talking about wanting change in my community, I decided to run for office and be the change.”
After filing for the HD 19 nomination, Hall said four precinct chairs reached out to him to implore him to consider stepping down, saying the party already had its preferred candidate. Hall said he felt like he didn’t have a choice but to agree. And he didn’t want to run somewhere he clearly wasn’t wanted anyway.
Hall grew up in Oklahoma, where he worked as a correctional officer, before moving to Texas a decade ago. He visited Austin for South by Southwest to party, parked somewhere he shouldn’t, got his car towed and ended up staying in town to work for the towing company because he couldn’t immediately afford the fees.
Hall, who has also served in the Texas State Guard, said he feels his hard-knock background makes him a more relatable candidate than the typical politician.
Article continues below this ad
“They’re mad because they spent thousands of dollars, and I spent nothing,” Hall said about the Texas Democratic Party.
Andrade, an Army veteran and cybersecurity specialist, received about $1,500 in donations and had about $2,150 on hand as of mid-January, according to campaign finance records. Hall’s campaign records show $0 all the way down.
“I mean, it’s kind of cool because everyone thinks you have to be a millionaire or have all this money to run for office and make a difference. You could be just yourself,” he said. “That right there is going to mess up the Democratic and Republican Party because I just won doing nothing. … I just showed right then and there anything is possible.”
Andrade’s campaign declined to comment. The Texas Democratic Party did not respond to a question about Hall’s comments that party members had asked him to drop out.
Article continues below this ad
A quirk in Texas law
Hall said Kendall Scudder, the Texas Democratic Party chairman, told him that he only won because his name sounds like a woman’s, and Democratic voters tend to favor women.
Scudder denied making such a comment. He told Hearst Newspapers that he sent Hall an email Monday afternoon declaring him ineligible for the Democratic nomination “in light of the fact that he’s seeking another office outside of the house district.”
Round Rock is not part of House District 19. Hall said he previously split his time between rented homes in the city and Cedar Park, a neighboring suburb that is part of the house district, but now primarily lives in Round Rock.
Article continues below this ad
“We will be having a vote of precinct chairs to replace him on the ballot,” Scudder said, declining to comment further.
Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office, said the party cannot nominate a substitute.
“If the nominee is withdrawing, then the party can only make a replacement nomination if the original candidate is withdrawing for one of three specific reasons,” such as a catastrophic illness, Pierce said, none of which seems to apply to Hall.
Under Texas law, the party’s executive committee can pick a replacement nominee only if the winning candidate is unable to serve or deemed legally ineligible, or in the limited circumstances Pierce described.
Article continues below this ad
The law does not bar the party from nominating a person who lost an election for that very role, meaning Andrade could have a second chance at a spot on the November ballot.
The issue has caused problems before. In 2006, when U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay advised the Texas Republican Party that he had moved to Virginia, and the party deemed him ineligible, the Texas Democratic Party immediately sued to keep DeLay on the ballot.
The case eventually went before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the Democrats. The judicial panel found that the party did not provide conclusive evidence that DeLay would definitely be a non-resident by the time the election rolled around, meaning his name stayed on the ballot even though his party wanted to replace him.
The court made clear that if a candidate merely withdraws, the party can’t put someone else on the ballot.
Article continues below this ad
Questions of eligibility
Craig Morgan, the three-term Round Rock mayor Hall is challenging, has been learning more than he ever bargained for about these types of tedious procedural rules. But Morgan has been mostly focused on another part of the statute: residency requirements.
Hall provided a Cedar Park address when he filed for candidacy in House District 19 but a Round Rock address when he filed for mayor. Both the Texas House and city of Round Rock require candidates to have lived within the district or city for a minimum of one year to be eligible to run.
“On one of them, he lied,” Morgan said of Hall’s forms. “That’s just the reality of it.”
Article continues below this ad
Hall said that he was living between two homes and now primarily lives in Round Rock. He did not own either home. His sister was renting the Cedar Park home, and he lived there while he was helping her with her kids as she moved in. Hall said he had lived in the state House district for over two years when he applied, and he began renting the Round Rock home in January 2025.
Morgan said he explored his legal options to contest Hall’s residency but decided it was not worth the trouble because the court precedents on the issue are “all over the map.” He also did not want to sue his longtime colleagues.
“I’m just not going to sue a city that I’ve given 15 years to,” he said. “They’re just doing their jobs.”
Instead, he said he’s focused on winning his election and leaving the decision up to the people of Round Rock.
Article continues below this ad
“It is what it is,” the incumbent said. “I’ll campaign hard. There’ll be a little bit of attention brought to it.
“I’ve always said the people will make their decision and live with those decisions, or whatever they may be,” Morgan said.