By Sarah Stogner
While my work these days keeps me very busy in criminal court prosecuting defendants for serious crimes, I have now also joined a legal effort in civil court. I’m a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit demanding ballot access for independent candidates.
The reason is simple. Our laws make it extremely difficult and expensive to enter a race outside of the party system. That means Texans are left with far too few candidates — generally, only the ones blessed by the two major parties and backed by their giant political machines.
This has to stop. Both parties are moving away from where voters stand. They’re picking nuttier, more extreme candidates at a time when Americans overwhelmingly want greater moderation.
Nearly half of voters (47%) now call themselves independent, while only about a quarter each call themselves Republicans or Democrats, according to a recent CNN poll. Earlier this year, Gallup found similar numbers, a record high for independents.
Meanwhile, in a recent survey, Americans were asked whether they feel each party has gone too far in each ideological direction. In both cases, a whopping 46% said yes, while only a small fraction (around 10%) said no.
The message is clear: Americans are clamoring for moderation, but the parties aren’t pulling through.
What stands in our way
Why is it so hard for independents to be included on ballots? Because the parties have used their power to make it so. As I explained on X:
The lawsuit I mentioned was filed in federal court by Mike Collier, former nominee for Texas Lieutenant Governor. He argues that the current impediments violate the constitutional rights of both candidates and voters.
“No state in the nation requires independent candidates for statewide office to gather more signatures in less time than Texas, and no other state is even close,” the lawsuit says. See coverage from The Texas Tribune.
Texas’ rules force an independent candidate to collect a huge number of signatures in a very short time frame. The calculation is based on the number of voters who participated in the previous election. To get on the ballot as an independent in the 2026 gubernatorial election, Mike would have to gather more than 81,000 signatures. An independent candidate can’t start the process until after a primary is decided, and must submit all signatures by 30 days after a primary runoff. “In most cases, that gives them 113 days to collect signatures,” the Tribune says.
As though that’s not tough enough, voters aren’t allowed to sign the petition if they participate in either party’s primary.
I’m among the co-plaintiffs who have joined Mike, along with former U.S. Congressman and Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett; former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley; former Texas State Senator Kel Seliger; former U.S. Congressman Alan Steelman, and others.
As you may know, I’ve considered runs for office with third parties in the past. Unfortunately, I discovered that the two parties control our politics. The best way to break the power of the duopoly is to allow people from entirely outside the party system to have a real shot at public office.
I ran for D.A. as a Republican because that’s where the opening was in the district. Voters asked me to run. I was honored, and heeded their call. I’m honored every day to represent them.
Once the GOP selected scandal-ridden Attorney General Ken Paxton as the nominee for the Senate, I could no longer in good conscience identify as Republican. I now consider myself as an independent.
Let’s fight this good fight. It’s time for Texans, and all Americans, to have real choices. Candidates who don’t appeal to the extremes. Candidates who believe in what I believe in: things like personal liberty and fiscal responsibility.
It’s time for real, systemic change. This lawsuit can help make it happen.