A hearing was held on December 19 in Republican Party of Texas v Pablos in federal court in Austin. The issue was whether Congressman Blake Farenthold could remove his name from the March 2018 Republican primary ballot. He is an incumbent member of Congress. He filed for re-election, but the next day he decided to withdraw. However, he was one day too late to withdraw, so the Republican Party filed the lawsuit to enable him to withdraw.
In court, attorneys for the Texas Secretary of State said if the Republican Party leaves Farenthold off its list of candidates, then Farenthold will not appear on the primary ballot. The Secretary of State hasn’t yet received the official list of Republican Party candidates; it is due December 19 (today). So the Republican Party withdrew its lawsuit, and presumably is submitting a list that excludes Farenthold.
The Secretary of State has nothing to do with preparation of the primary ballot. Candidates for statewide and multi-county district office file with the state party chair. Prior to 2014, the state chair would transmit the list of candidates to the county chairs, so that they could prepare the primary ballot in their county. Primaries are conducted by the political party in each county.
Since 2014 the state chair transmits the list of candidates to the SOS, who places the list on the SOS website, after it is certified by the state party chair. The state party chair then notifies the county chairs to go to the SOS web site to get the list of candidates.
Blake Farenthold filed on November 11, 2017 (the earliest possible date). The filing deadline was December 11, 2017.
In certain cases there can be an extended filing deadline. The conditions are:
(1) A candidate dies within 5 days of the regular deadline, and one day after (December 6 through 12);
(2) An incumbent withdraws or is declared ineligible on the day of the filing deadline or the day after (December 11 or 12);
(3) A sole candidate withdraws or is declared ineligible on the day of the filing deadline (December 11 or 12).
The extended deadline is five days, until December 16. If there is an extended deadline, the state chair is required to notify a newspaper in each county of the district (15 counties in this case).
Blake Farenthold did not withdraw until December 14, and there was no extended filing deadline.
If a candidate dies or is declared ineligible after the deadline, they will appear on the primary ballot, but votes for them will not be counted. Texas does not permit write-in votes in primaries. There is no way for a candidate to withdraw after the deadline.
If a candidate qualifies for the primary runoff, they may withdraw within 3 days of the final canvass and the runoff will be cancelled. If a nominee dies or withdraws for cause, or is declared ineligible, he may be replaced. It is almost impossible for a congressional candidate to become ineligible, since residency is only required on election day. If it were discovered that the candidate was under 25, or not a citizen for seven years, it might be possible.
The state chair is a state actor in their role of overseeing nominations. If the Republican Party does not follow the law, it is quite likely they will be sued. Blake Farenthold is not going to win the primary, so there is no real reason to remove him from the primary ballot.