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Lupe Valdez, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, is heading to a runoff election against incumbent Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown.
Brown led the Democratic ticket with 42% of votes and Valdez followed with 38%, according to unofficial results. Three other Democratic contenders — retired Dallas County Constable Roy Williams Jr., police training instructor Sam Mohamed and former federal correctional officer Rodney Thomas were also on the Democratic ticket but together won less than 20% of votes. With no Republican challengers on the ballot, the winner of the May 28 runoff will run unopposed in the November general election.
Voting FAQ: 2024 Elections
When is the next election? What dates do I need to know?
Election Day for the general election is November 5, and early voting will run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. The deadline to register to vote and/or change your voter registration address is Oct. 7. Applications to vote by mail must be received by your county of residence – not postmarked – by Oct. 25.
What’s on the ballot for the general election?
In addition to the president, eligible Texans have the opportunity to cast their ballots for many Texas officials running for office at the federal, state and local levels.
This includes representatives in the U.S. and Texas houses and the following elected offices:
-1 U.S Senator (Ted Cruz)
– 1 of 3 Railroad Commissioners
– 15 State Senators
– 7 State Board of Education members
– 3 members of the Texas Supreme Court
– 3 members of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– 5 Chief Justices and various justices for Texas Courts of Appeals
Lower-level judges and local county offices will also appear on the ballot:
– Various district judges, including on criminal and family courts
– County Courts at Law
– Justices of the Peace
– District Attorneys
– County Attorneys
– Sheriffs
– Constables
– Tax Assessor-Collectors
How do I make sure I’m registered to vote?
You can check to see if you’re registered and verify your information through the Texas Secretary of State’s website. You’ll need one of the following three combinations to log in: Your Texas driver’s license number and date of birth. Your first and last names, date of birth and county you reside in. Your date of birth and Voter Unique Identifier, which appears on your voter registration certificate.
What if I missed the voter registration deadline?
You must be registered to vote in a Texas county by Oct. 7 to vote in the Nov. 5 presidential election. You can still register for other elections.
If you’re registered but didn’t update your address by the deadline, you may still be able to vote at your previous voting location or on a limited ballot. (Voters are typically assigned precincts based on where they live. In most major counties, voters can vote anywhere on Election Day, but some counties require you vote within your precinct. If that is the case, you may have to return to your previous precinct. See which counties allow countywide Election Day voting here. You can usually find your precinct listed on your voter registration certificate or on when checking your registration online.)
If you moved from one county to another, you may be able to vote on a ballot limited to the elections you would qualify to vote in at both locations, such as statewide races. However, limited ballots are only available during early voting. Find your county election official here and contact them to ask about or request a limited ballot.
What can I do if I have questions about voting?
You can contact your county elections official or call the Texas Secretary of State’s helpline at 1-800-252-VOTE (8683). A coalition of voting rights groups is also helping voters navigate election concerns through the 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683) voter-protection helpline. The coalition also has hotlines available for voters who speaker other languages or have accessibility needs.
For help in Spanish, call 888-VE-Y-VOTA or 888-839-8682.
For help in Asian languages, call 888-API-VOTE or 888-274-8683.
For help in Arabic, call 888-YALLA-US or 888-925-5287.
For help in American Sign Language through a video, call 301-818-VOTE or 301-818-8683.
For help from Disability Rights Texas, call 888-796-VOTE or 888-796-8683.
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That wasn’t the case in 2004, when Valdez was first elected Dallas County’s sheriff, narrowly beating a Republican. She was the first Latina in the role and one of few openly lesbian officeholders in Texas. During her tenure, Valdez oversaw one of the nation’s largest county jail systems, which struggled with inadequate inmate health care, poor ventilation and insufficient staff training.
The U.S. Justice Department sued Valdez and the county, arguing that their poor facilities violated inmates’ constitutional rights. They dropped their suit in 2011, after the jail finally passed a state inspection in 2010 — thanks to more than $138 million that county officials spent renovating the facility.
Valdez, who now works as a DeSoto Police Department officer, has said that she decided to run for her old job after learning about some “painful” incidents that she did not detail. Her campaign manager, Mike Hendrix, said she wants to return to the post because of low morale among deputies and jailors.
Under Brown’s leadership, the Dallas County Jail failed two annual state inspections before returning to compliance last year. The jail has struggled with long waitlists for people who need to be transferred from the jail to state mental health facilities and was at the center of a six-year legal dispute over bail practices. A new criminal case management system also contributed to jail overcrowding, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Hendrix said Tuesday evening that Valdez was excited to move into a runoff against Brown, her successor.
“Our strategy was always to make it into a runoff so we can go head to head and start talking about the sheriff’s record,” Hendrix said. “Suicide rates are up, murders in the jail are up, deaths in the jail are up, morale is very low.”
Brown’s campaign team could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Valdez ran the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department until 2017, when she stepped down to run for governor. She won the Democratic primary in a runoff election but lost to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott in the November general election.
That election came after Valdez clashed with Abbott over a new state immigration law that banned cities from declaring themselves safe havens or “sanctuary cities,” meaning they would not enforce federal immigration statutes. The 2017 Texas law also allowed Texas police officers to question the immigration status of anyone they detained. Valdez said she would soften her approach to detaining undocumented immigrants booked in Dallas County jail.
When Valdez left the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, she endorsed Marian Brown as her replacement. Brown, who became the counties’ first Black sheriff, began her career in law enforcement in 1988 with the Duncanville Police Department, according to her campaign website, and she served as a lieutenant and assistant police chief there before becoming sheriff.
Valdez was born in San Antonio to a family of migrant farm workers. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Southern Nazarene University and a master’s in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Before entering local government, Valdez served in the U.S. Army, where she attained the rank of captain. She then worked as a federal agent for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and later for the Department of Homeland Security, where she focused on fraud and drug cases.
We can’t wait to welcome you to downtown Austin Sept. 5-7 for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival! Join us at Texas’ breakout politics and policy event as we dig into the 2024 elections, state and national politics, the state of democracy, and so much more. When tickets go on sale this spring, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today.
Correction, March 18, 2024, 9:28 a.m. Central: Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Lupe Valdez beat a Republican incumbent when she ran for Dallas County Sheriff in 2004. Valdez defeated Republican Danny Chandler, who had beat the incumbent in the Republican primary.
