The Supreme Court may be disenfranchising independent voters and candidates in Texas

 

The Supreme Court put a hold on the Order that barred the Texas redistricting map that Republicans created. This is supposedly for the Supreme Court to take this up at a later date. This redistricting plan already is fraught with problems. And most Americans are also becoming fed up with the massive amount of gerrymandering both parties have done for decades now.

The gerrymandering is bad enough for independent or third parties as it is, and actually shouldn’t be allowed on its surface. Yet as you know the duopoly does everything in its power to protect its interests which coincides with the fact their interests aren’t the interests of the people.

Yet how does the Supreme Court’s action affect independents in Texas. Well if you are tired of the duopoly and think we need new candidates or I want to vote for someone different such as an independent or third party you are now up against a deadline to file to run.

1. As per the Texas Department of State’s website if you want to run as an independent you must:
   File a Declaration of Intent to Run as an Independent Candidate (PDF) between November 8, 2025 and 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 8, 2025 with the county judge (county or precinct offices) or the Secretary of State (district and state offices).  [Secs. 142.002(b)(2), 142.005]  This Declaration of Intent to Run as an Independent Candidate is mandatory. If you do not file a declaration during the applicable filing period, your subsequent candidate application will be rejected.

You now have to decide blindly if you think you have a chance because if you run, presumably you want to win. Yet, how do you know your chances if you do not know what the district will look like.

There are other requirements also, but that December 8 deadline is fast approaching. Now this basically affects a US House seat, but right now that body of our government desperately needs new people.

This affects candidates and voters because if you do not want to vote for either of the duopoly, you may not have a choice since an independent candidate may not be able to run or run an effective campaign.

And what is worse there is no recourse for independents since they cannot sue the Supreme Court to take action timely.

Sure you can file your intent to run as an independent and later drop out if you do not have a good district, but exactly how a district looks is an important piece of knowledge in making any decision to run for office.

And yes I know some people will say it is a waste of votes to vote against the duopoly. I have two arguments for you. One is right now people may be more open to someone new due to all the dysfunction in Washington right now and two well if you look at all the dysfunction in Washington right now, maybe voting for the duopoly is the wasted vote.

Since I live in Texas I only looked at the Texas rules, yet this may be playing out in other states as well.

Cheers