Will the Texas Republican Party be Successful Where the Hawaiian Democratic Party Failed?

Will the Texas Republican Party be Successful Where the Hawaiian Democratic Party Failed?
Image generated by IVN staff.
Shawn GriffithsShawn Griffiths
Published: 05 Sep, 2025
3 min read

AUSTIN, Texas - The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is suing Secretary of State Jane Nelson in an effort to close the state’s primary elections to party members only – a move that the Democratic Party of Hawaii (DPH) tried back in 2013 in its state and failed. 

The State Republican Executive Committee reaffirmed the party’s commitment to have primary elections that bar non-members back in June. The problem? Texas law requires open primaries, and the state does not register voters by party.

In state primaries, any registered voter can choose between a Republican or Democratic ballot each election cycle. While they do not register with a party, their voter file is essentially stamped with the party they chose for the remainder of that cycle.

This ensures that voters who pick one party’s ballot cannot vote in the other party’s primary as well or vote in a different party’s runoff elections. 

A change to primaries in Texas would require the state legislature to amend election law or a court decision that finds the current law unconstitutional and allows the party to use its own registration and verification processes to identify party members.

The Texas GOP asserts that open primaries violate the party’s First Amendment associational rights. “Our primaries should reflect Republican values—not outside interference,” said RPT Chair Abraham George.

This same argument was used by Democrats in Hawaii back in 2013. In fact, both parties make identical claims, from citing First Amendment protections to asserting that crossover voting dilutes the voices of party members.

George said, “This is not just about a rule change—it’s about protecting the integrity of our elections and defending the voice of our conservative base,” which sounds awfully similar to former DPH Chair Dante Carpenter, who said:

The lawsuit isn't about excluding voters, but ensuring Democrats are selected at the primary stage by those willing to identify as Democrats.”

IVP Donate

But the courts didn’t agree with the DPH. 

In November 2013, District Court Judge Michael Seabright ruled that the Democratic Party failed to provide sufficient evidence that open primary elections in Hawaii violated the First Amendment.

“The DPH would likely not be ‘severely’ burdened by not being able to reject persons who fully embrace its values. The possibility of crossover voters might make no difference,” Seabright wrote in his decision.

This ruling was then upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Parties often use “crossover voting” as an argument to close primary elections, which occurs when members of a party vote in the other party’s primary. Party leaders claim this is a common scheme to sabotage primary results in order to advance a weaker candidate 

Or, a candidate that isn’t as “pure” in party politics.

SC Governor Rejects Calls to Close Primaries; Squashes Claims of 'Party Raiding'

DPH argued that crossover voting could happen but offered no evidence that it actually did happen or happened to such a degree that it impacted elections. Now, the Texas GOP will attempt to convince a court that their primaries are being sabotaged by non-members. 

As an example, the party uses two 2024 primary elections for Texas House in which the winners – Dade Phelan and Gary VanDeaver – won with less than 800 votes. The party asserts that the only reason they won is because of Democrats and independent voters. 

Let Us Vote : Sign Now!

The question is: Can they prove it, or will they fail like the DPH?

It is worth mentioning that if the RPT is successful in closing primary elections in Texas, it will deny approximately 3 million independent voters access to critical public elections, according to numbers from L2 Data that are published on the Independent Voter Project's website

In this article

You Might Also Like

Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
Gerrymandering, Primaries, and Election History: How It Really Works
The nation’s attention is currently on the ongoing redistricting fight between Republicans and Democrats. The conversation is being framed: “Donald Trump is doing this.” “Gavin Newsom is doing that.” However, what voters are missing is the context of how we got here....
08 Aug, 2025
-
1 min read
Cartoon hand placing a ballot into a box that says primary on it with a GOP elephant and Democrat donkey in the background.
Hate Gerrymandering? Let’s Start Voting in Primaries
Responding to pressure from President Trump, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republican-controlled legislature are moving forward with a plan to redraw their district lines in advance of the 2026 midterms. Democrats are contemplating how to fight back and blunt any gains the GOP makes in Texas by conducting their own gerrymanders in New York, Illinois, and California.  ...
07 Aug, 2025
-
4 min read
state of Louisiana with a closed stamp over it.
Louisiana’s New Voting System: Closed, Confusing, and Costly
Louisiana is making the switch to closed partisan primaries for some elections in 2026, using a system that will no doubt confuse many of the state’s registered No Party voters, who are about to add approximately 151,000 people to their numbers. ...
30 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
National Reform Organizations Condemn Texas and California Over Gerrymandering
National Reform Organizations Condemn Texas and California Over Gerrymandering
The United States has passed the point of no return in the unprecedented mid-cycle redistricting fight between Texas and California, which threatens to expand to other states like Republican-controlled Florida and Democratic-controlled New York....
25 Aug, 2025
-
6 min read
Gerrymandering Wars Escalate Beyond Texas and California: A National Race to the Bottom?
Gerrymandering Wars Escalate Beyond Texas and California: A National Race to the Bottom?
Republicans currently hold a narrow 219 to 212 edge over Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, with four vacancies: three from Democratic members who have died and one from a Republican who has resigned. This is the smallest House majority held by either party in nearly a century. The razor-thin margin means the stakes in the 2026 midterms could not be higher. With so few competitive seats left nationwide, both parties are turning to mid-decade redistricting as a way to secure advantages....
27 Aug, 2025
-
10 min read
Hand in ballot that says independent on it.
Why 1.2 Million California Independents Are The Biggest Wild Card in American Politics Today
The fate of Proposition 50, California’s proposed redistricting measure, may come down to voters who have declined to join one of the two major political parties....
22 Aug, 2025
-
5 min read