A federal judge has put the Republican Party of Texas' challenge to Texas' open-primary system on hold, leaving the Legislature with the next opportunity to decide whether only party-affiliated voters should participate in Republican primaries. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk paused the case Friday instead of ruling on whether the current system violates the party's First Amendment rights, News From The States reported.
The lawsuit, filed in 2025 against then-Secretary of State Jane Nelson, argues that the Republican Party should be able to limit participation in its nominee-selection process. Under Texas' current rules, voters do not register with a party and may choose which party's primary to enter. Kacsmaryk said he expects lawmakers to consider closing the Republican primary, while acknowledging that legislative action is not guaranteed.
The pause preserves the central constitutional question
The order does not determine whether the Republican Party may exclude voters from its primary. Instead, the judge paused the litigation because the Legislature could amend the election rules at issue. That puts the immediate focus on whether lawmakers will create a new system before the next statewide primary, rather than on a judicial ruling that would settle the party's associational-rights claim.
The timing matters because Texas' system treats primary participation as the point at which affiliation is established. The Texas Secretary of State says Texans do not register to vote with a party affiliation. A voter who participates in a party primary or runoff is affiliated with that party, but the affiliation automatically expires on December 31 of the calendar year, and the voter cannot vote in the other party's primary during that year.
Changing the system would require more than a party rule
That distinction is at the heart of the dispute. The Republican Party of Texas adopted rules requiring primary voters to register with the Texas Secretary of State as Republicans, but the state's election machinery still operates without party registration. A traditional closed-primary model would therefore require the Legislature to change or supplement the current framework.
The party has pursued that change through both litigation and legislative pressure. Earlier efforts to close Texas primaries did not advance out of committee, according to the Amarillo Tribune. The state's next primary election is not scheduled until 2028, giving lawmakers time to act but not ensuring that they will reach agreement.
What remains unresolved
The outcome now depends on two separate decisions: whether lawmakers alter Texas' primary structure and, if they do not, whether the federal court eventually reaches the Republican Party's constitutional challenge. The successor to Nelson, Secretary of State Robert Howden, has said he intends to defend the open-primary system, according to the KSAT. Former Secretary of State Jane Nelson has maintained that the Legislature is the proper venue for changing it.
For voters, the practical rule remains unchanged for now: Texas does not ask them to declare a party when they register, but voting in a primary creates a temporary affiliation for that election year. Until lawmakers or the courts change that arrangement, voters may continue choosing either party's primary while being barred from participating in both during the same year.
