The Dec. 11 filing deadline has passed for the March 5, 2024, Republican and Democratic primaries.

The Secretary of State’s office publishes a list of candidates accepted by the parties, but the parties have five days to submit the list and it could be Dec. 19 before the online list is complete, officials said.

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz faced challengers in the Republican primary including Holland “Redd” Gibson from Houston and R.E. (Rufus) Lopez from San Antonio. Gibson is retired and Lopez is an attorney.

Cruz’ Democratic primary opponents included U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, Aaron Arguijo, Meri Gomez, Mark Gonzalez, Roland Gutierrez, A. “Robert” Hassan, Steven J. Keough, Heli Rodriguez Prillman, Carl Oscar Sherman and Thierry Tchenko.

Arguijo is an entrepreneur, Gomez is a taxation consultant, Gonzalez is an attorney, Gutierrez is an attorney, Hassan is a businessman, Keough is a teacher, Prillman is an entrepreneur, Sherman is a pastor/consultant and Tchenko is a politician.

In the 3rd Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, was challenged in the primary by Suzanne Harp of Allen, John Porro of Farmersville, Jeremy D. Ivanovskis of Plano, and Tre Pennie of Plano.

Harp is vice president of an investment bank, Porro is a healthcare executive, Ivanovskis is a flight attendant and Pennie is a retired Dallas Police sergeant.

Frisco real estate broker Sandeep Srivastava, who ran in the 2022 race, filed again in the Democratic primary.

State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, faced a District 67 primary challenge from former Allen Councilman Daren Meis.

A businessman, Meis entered the race with the endorsement of Attorney General Ken Paxton after Leach supported the impeachment of Paxton who later was acquitted by the Senate. Leach, who has held his seat since 2013, said he had been endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

In District 89, State Rep. Candy Noble had a challenger in the Republican primary. Endorsed by Paxton, Abraham George resigned as Collin County GOP chair and filed to run against Noble. No Democrats had filed.

State Rep. Angie Chen Button, who had represented District 112 since 2009, was running unopposed in the Republican primary. But former Miss Texas and viral influencer Averie Bishop from McKinney filed for nomination in the Democratic primary.

District 8, State Sen. Angela Paxton did not have a challenger in the Republican primary. Rachel Mello, a teacher, filed for the seat in the Democratic primary.

Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner filed as a Republican for reelection to the job he had held since 2017. There were no other candidates in the race.

Three GOP hopefuls were seeking to succeed Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector Kenneth Maun, a Republican who had been in the office for nearly 40 years. Scott Grigg of Sachse is a legal clerk, Cam McCall of McKinney is a supervisor in the tax office and Angela Powell of Plano is a teacher and business owner.

Precinct 1 Collin County Commissioner Susan Fletcher was unopposed for re-election in the GOP primary, but Precinct 3 Commissioner Darrell Hale faced fellow Republican Jim Garrison, a producer.

The last day to register to vote in the March 5 primary elections is Feb. 5. Early voting begins Feb. 20 and runs through March 1 with the election on Tuesday, March 5.

By Bob Wieland – [email protected]

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