Texas governor, lieutenant governor and more: What do these offices do?

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Texans’ ballots for the midterm elections this yr can be significantly lengthy.

Along with their district-based representatives — in Congress, the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas Senate and the State Board of Education — voters have the chance to pick a number of elected officers who work for Texans throughout the state.

This means the state’s high government leaders — the governor, lieutenant governor and legal professional basic — are on the poll.

But so are different statewide offices, such because the land commissioner and agriculture commissioner, that wield important energy by regulating industries or managing grants and funds. Judges and justices for the state’s high courts, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court, may also seem additional down on the poll.

Not accustomed to these statewide offices? You can discover extra information about every workplace, together with its duties and energy, under. You can even discover your district-based lawmakers by way of our ballot finder.

Republicans have held each statewide elected workplace in Texas for greater than twenty years. The size of the time period for every state workplace varies, however there aren’t any limits to what number of phrases an officeholder can serve. There are additionally no referendums or recall elections on the state stage in Texas.

Governor (four-year time period): The governor is the chief government of the state. The governor’s duties embody outlining funds suggestions for the Legislature and main the state and its army forces throughout emergencies.

The Texas Constitution was written to restrict the governor’s powers, particularly throughout the Legislature, however the governor can nonetheless maintain a whole lot of casual energy by way of political affect, mentioned Jennifer Hayes Clark, an affiliate professor of political science on the University of Houston.

The governor’s legislative powers embody signing or vetoing payments and laying out emergency objects for the Legislature to concentrate on throughout the first 60 days of normal legislative classes, when no different payments may be handed.

The Legislature normally meets just for about 5 months each different odd-numbered yr, however the governor can name particular classes for lawmakers to reconvene and move legal guidelines on problems with the governor’s alternative, as Gov. Greg Abbott did 3 times in 2021.

But it’s by way of appointments that the governor can amass energy. The governor could make appointments to a whole lot of government entities.

Notable appointments embody the secretary of state, who oversees elections; the commissioner of public schooling; the commissioner of upper schooling; members of the Public Utility Commission, which regulates the state’s power grid and different utilities; and the boards of regents for four-year public universities.

The governor can even fill vacancies for the rest of an unfinished time period if an elected official, a choose or a justice resigns or dies. Many appointments require affirmation from the Texas Senate, however governors can skirt that requirement if an election for an workplace is held earlier than the Senate reconvenes, mentioned Drew Landry, an assistant professor of presidency at South Plains College. Abbott and former Gov. Rick Perry, specifically, usually used this workaround, Landry mentioned.

This is an efficient technique as a result of gubernatorial appointees then have the benefit of identify recognition and usually tend to win an election, Clark mentioned, and these appointments may be particularly influential within the state’s high courts.

“Given the long tenure of Perry, and now Abbott, they’ve both appointed nearly all members of the Texas bureaucracy — so many of those important boards and commissions of the state, which make important decisions,” Clark mentioned.

This signifies that the ability and affect of a Texas governor can develop the longer they’re in workplace — even with a state structure that’s designed to provide extra energy to the legislature.

Abbott is looking for a 3rd time period. His challengers are Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee, Mark Tippits, a Libertarian, and Delilah Barrios, a Green Party candidate.

Lieutenant governor (four-year time period): The lieutenant governor, the second-highest state government, presides over the state Senate. It is commonly thought to be essentially the most highly effective statewide elected workplace due to its function within the Texas Legislature, Landry mentioned. In the Senate, the lieutenant governor is in command of the agenda and standing committees and has the deciding phrase if there’s a tie or a procedural query. This offers the workplace a whole lot of affect over senators and energy over what payments make it to the governor’s desk.

“Basically, he gets to roll the dice, and everyone else is going to play that game,” Landry mentioned.

The lieutenant governor additionally co-chairs the Legislative Budget Board, which leads the event of the state funds, and is on the Legislative Redistricting Board, which is in command of redrawing political maps based mostly on census knowledge if the Legislature fails to do so. (The different members of the Legislative Redistricting Board are the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, legal professional basic, land commissioner and comptroller.)

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who quietly amassed affect with former President Donald Trump and usually has tense relations with extra average members of the Texas Republican celebration, is looking for a 3rd time period. His challengers are Democrat Mike Collier and Libertarian Shanna Steele.

Comptroller of public accounts (four-year time period): The comptroller is the state’s accountant and chief monetary officer. The workplace is accountable for accumulating state charges and taxes, that are primarily gross sales taxes from native governments. (Texas doesn’t have a state earnings tax, and property taxes are collected by native governments.)

The comptroller additionally manages a whole lot of state contracts on behalf of different businesses and offers forecasts on the state’s income and economic system for the Legislature. This helps set the course for legislative classes, Clark mentioned.

Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who’s looking for reelection for a 3rd time period, has lately taken a extra lively method by challenging companies and Harris County over political issues. He faces Democratic challenger Janet Dudding and Libertarian challenger V. Alonzo Echevarria-Garza.

Attorney basic (4 year-term): The legal professional basic is the state’s high legal professional. The workplace is accountable for representing the state in authorized issues, primarily in civil litigation. This can seem like defending the state in lawsuits, particularly if a case reaches the U.S. Supreme Court. It can even imply bringing ahead or collaborating in lawsuits towards the federal authorities, firms or others on behalf of the general public.

The legal professional basic can even make authorized interpretations and concern opinions on authorized questions. The opinions aren’t rulings and are nonbinding, however they’re usually adopted and cited by others, resembling native governments and attorneys.

“Even though it’s nonbinding, they then sort of take that as basically a stamp of approval,” Clark mentioned. “And the implication is that then if somebody sues, then they can use that to kind of bolster their argument.”

The legal professional basic’s workplace additionally enforces child-support orders and open-government legal guidelines and can examine for shopper and Medicaid fraud. The workplace can even present help in legal investigations, however that’s normally restricted to when native officers request assist from the workplace, Clark mentioned.

Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose tenure has been clouded by a fraud indictment and an FBI investigation into claims of malfeasance whereas in workplace, is looking for a 3rd time period. There is not any legislation stopping somebody from working for workplace whereas beneath indictment, based on Landry and Clark. State election code says only that an eligible candidate should “have not been finally convicted of a felony from which the person has not been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities.”

Right now, Paxton must be investigated and impeached by the Legislature or voted out to be faraway from workplace, Landry mentioned. Despite his authorized troubles, Paxton probably benefited from Trump’s endorsement to win the crowded Republican major for legal professional basic, Clark mentioned.

Paxton’s midterm challengers are Democrat Rochelle Garza and Libertarian Mark Ash.

Land commissioner (four-year time period): The commissioner of the General Land Office manages 13 million acres of state land. The workplace additionally administers federal help after pure disasters, manages the historic Alamo web site and oversees investments from the Permanent School Fund, a state endowment created in 1876 to assist fund public schooling. It additionally offers help for veterans by way of the Veterans Land Board, which gives land and dwelling loans and different providers to veterans.

Three candidates are vying for the workplace at present held by Republican George P. Bush, who unsuccessfully ran to be the Republican candidate for legal professional basic. They are state Sen. Dawn Buckingham, R-Lakeway; Jay Kleberg, a Democrat; and Green Party candidate Alfred Molison.

Agriculture commissioner (four-year time period): Apart from supporting farmers and regulating the agriculture trade, the commissioner of agriculture regulates weights and measuring units, together with grocery scales, retail value scanners and gasoline pumps. That’s why it’s possible you’ll hear warnings or updates about bank card fraud at gasoline pumps from the commissioner of agriculture, Landry mentioned. The agriculture commissioner can be in command of administering faculty lunch applications and other assistance programs to assist handle starvation and promote vitamin.

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is looking for a 3rd time period. His Democratic opponent is Susan Hays. There aren’t any Libertarian or Green Party candidates.

Railroad commissioners (six-year phrases): The Railroad Commission, which is made up of three elected seats, regulates oil, fuel, coal and pipelines within the state. (It was initially established to control railroad tariffs, however railroads at the moment are overseen by the Rail Division of the Texas Department of Transportation.)

The seat of Republican incumbent Wayne Christian is up for election. His challengers are Luke Warford, the Democratic nominee; Jaime Andrés Díez, a Libertarian; and Hunter Crow of the Green Party.

Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas (six-year phrases): Texas and Oklahoma are the one two states with two courts of “last resort,” based on Clark and Landry. The Texas Supreme Court is the highest courtroom within the state for civil litigation. It is made up of 9 justices, together with the chief justice, who serve staggered six-year phrases. The state supreme courtroom additionally oversees the State Bar of Texas.

Texas is certainly one of a handful of states that elects judges by way of partisan elections. In Missouri and different states, judges are appointed by the governor by way of a merit-based nomination system. These judges then undergo retention elections, through which voters resolve whether or not a choose ought to stay in workplace. If voters reject a choose, a brand new one is appointed.

Other states elect judges by way of contested, nonpartisan elections. New Mexico makes use of a combination of partisan and nonpartisan elections after a choose is appointed by the governor.

In Texas, governors like Abbott can nonetheless exert affect within the courtroom by appointing people with comparable coverage and authorized views to fill vacancies. And though these appointees nonetheless face elections, they have a tendency to facet with the governor who appointed them.

“It’s very rare to see them actually go against the governor,” Clark mentioned.

That’s given Abbott and Texas conservatives wins in important instances, resembling these concerning the state’s abortion restrictions. The state Supreme Court determined that state leaders couldn’t be sued over a near-total ban handed in 2021 because of its private-enforcement mechanism. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Texas courtroom additionally allowed the state to implement another near-total ban on abortions dating to before the Civil War.

Earlier within the pandemic, the Texas Supreme Court additionally temporarily blocked enforcement of masks mandates in Dallas and Bexar counties, siding with Abbott and Paxton’s argument that the Texas Disaster Act of 1975 offers the governor the ability of commander-in-chief. More lately, the state Supreme Court questioned Abbott’s directive for the state to research households offering gender-affirming care to transgender youngsters, however the justices allowed most investigations to continue.

The three justices up for reelection are Republicans Debra Lehrmann, Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle and Evan Young. Democrat Erin A. Nowell and Libertarian Tom Oxford are difficult Lehrmann. Huddle and Young are going through Democratic challengers Amanda Reichek and Julia Maldonado, respectively.

Judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals (six-year phrases): The Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest courtroom within the state for legal legislation. It is made up of 9 judges, together with a presiding choose.

All demise penalty instances go on to the Court of Criminal Appeals for an automated attraction to find out whether or not there have been any authorized errors within the courtroom continuing. Other legal appeals go to certainly one of 14 decrease courts of legal appeals within the state, and the Court of Criminal Appeals can then resolve to evaluate choices made by a type of decrease courts.

The Court of Criminal Appeals has remaining say over all “habeas corpus” appeals for these convicted of a felony, through which individuals declare they’re being illegally punished or unlawfully detained. This sort of attraction usually focuses on constitutional rights and claims of innocence, and can embody info outdoors of the unique trial report, like new proof. Lower courts could make suggestions to the excessive courtroom in such instances, nevertheless it’s the Court of Criminal Appeals that determines if an attraction will lead to an overturned conviction or decreased sentence.

The three judges up for reelection are Republicans Mary Lou Keel, Scott Walker and Jesse McClure. Keel’s seat is uncontested. McClure is being challenged by Robert Johnson, and Walker’s challenger is Dana Huffman.

This story is a part of a challenge known as Democracy Day, through which newsrooms throughout the nation are shining a light-weight on threats to democracy and what motion is required to guard it.

Jolie McCullough contributed to this story.

Disclosure: The University of Houston and the Texas comptroller of public accounts have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that’s funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Find a whole list of them here.

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