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Houston Rep. Lacey Hull has prevailed in the Republican primary against Jared Woodfill, a prominent anti-gay activist who was backed by Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican leaders despite his role in an ongoing sex abuse scandal.
The Associated Press called the race for Hull around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, as she led Woodfill with 61.6% of votes.
Hull ran a quiet campaign that touted her voting record on abortion, increased penalties for voter fraud and support for a wall and the installation of razor wire at the border. Since joining the Texas House in 2021, she has consistently been ranked as one of the body’s most conservative members based on voting records.
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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But her vote to impeach Paxton last year made her a target of the attorney general and his allies who, in the wake of his acquittal by the Texas Senate, promised scorched-earth retribution campaigns against those who voted for impeachment. Woodfill helped fundraise for the attorney general’s legal defense last summer, and during the primaries framed Hull as a “Republican In Name Only” for supporting impeachment.
Woodfill’s campaign — and its endorsement by Paxton, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi — was perhaps the most controversial in a particularly heated primary season that has deepened Republican fissures over the impeachment, school voucher programs and the broader direction of the Texas GOP.
Woodfill entered the race while still involved in a high-profile lawsuit that accused his former law partner, Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler, of decades of rape. Woodfill was also accused of enabling Pressler’s behavior and, in a deposition last year, acknowledged that he continued to pay young men to work out of Pressler’s home for years despite being told in 2004 that Pressler had sexually abused a child. Before the lawsuit was settled late last year, a 2017 email was also unearthed in which one of Pressler’s aides — who was being paid by Woodfill — warned that the religious leader was a pedophile.
Woodfill led the Harris County Republican Party from 2002 to 2014 and has for years been at the helm of anti-LGBTQ+ and other hardline conservative movements in Houston and Texas. He is also a longtime associate of Steven Hotze, an extreme anti-gay conservative powerbroker who has pushed false claims about widespread voter fraud and, with Woodfill’s help, filed lawsuits challenging COVID-19 mandates.
Woodfill-related scandals also plagued two other major primaries this year: In Harris County, democratic District Attorney Kim Ogg faced questions over her office’s closing of a 2017 fraud investigation into Woodfill; and Texas Supreme Court Justice John Devine was criticized for not recusing himself when the court ruled on the Pressler lawsuit in 2022 — despite working for Woodfill and Pressler’s law firm at the time that two former employees said they were abused.
Ogg lost on Tuesday to Democrat Sean Teare, while Devine was deadlocked with his challenger, Second District Court of Appeals Judge Brian Walker, as of early Wednesday morning.
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