How to watch the Texas primary election

By Rachel Janfaza, CNN

It’s Election Day in Texas, where voters in the Lone Star State are heading to the polls in the first primary of the 2022 election cycle. The primary races will set the scene for several key races up and down the Texas ballot this year, including the Lone Star State’s gubernatorial and attorney general elections. Tuesday’s primary is the first election to be held under Texas’ new elections law, which made significant changes to voting procedures in the state.

Candidates need to win more than 50% of the vote in order to avoid a runoff. Any races that advance to a runoff will take place on May 24.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What time does CNN’s coverage start?

CNN’s TV coverage on Tuesday night will be focused on President Joe Biden’s State of the Union.

Results will be available on CNN.com.

What time do polls close?

Polls for in-person Election Day voting in Texas open at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. local time. Most of Texas is on Central Time, but the western tip of the state around El Paso is on Mountain Time.

Texans were also able to early vote in-person from February 14 to February 25, and some were eligible to mail in their ballots.

Election Resources

CNN Politics has several Texas primary election-related resources available to readers:

• What to know about 6 statewide jobs on Texas’ midterm ballot: Down the ballot beyond governor, candidates are running for a host of other statewide positions with a wide variety of duties — and one position for which the title has nothing to do with the actual job.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott faces a crowded GOP primary : Abbott faces seven Republican opponents in the March 1 Republican primary as he seeks a third term leading the Lone Star State. But he has spent most of his campaign attacking the likely Democratic nominee, Beto O’Rourke.
• Meanwhile, O’Rourke is embracing his return to long-shot status: The question the Democrat faces this year is whether Texas voters — who will see him as a major candidate for the third time in five years — are willing to give him another chance after his two losses.
• Texas Republicans could be headed for a runoff in the heated attorney general primary: The most hotly contested statewide primary in Texas on Tuesday centers on the future of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican who spearheaded a notorious failed legal challenge to the 2020 election results. Paxton needs a majority on Election Day to avoid being drawn into a one-on-one contest with the runner-up in a heavyweight field of potential runners-up that includes state Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and US Rep. Louie Gohmert.
• A look at the Democratic primary in Texas’ 28th congressional district: Down in South Texas, Rep. Henry Cuellar, considered a political institution in Laredo, is facing off in a rematch against 28-year-old progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros. The race comes amid the backdrop of an FBI investigation into Cuellar — who survived his first matchup against Cisneros in 2020, winning by less than four percentage points.
• Texas voters are sharing their experience: As Texas voters head to polls this year, they’ve had to deal with a slew of election law changes, including limited early voting hours and increased mail-in voting requirements.

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