The bill numbers are SB2197 and HB4309, which, unfortunately, would not do away with minor party filing fees, but at least minimize the economic cost of them. Republicans and Democratic candidates’ filing fees are retained by their respective state parties, but other parties’ filing fees become the property of the State of Texas.
Democratic and Republican filing fees are paid directly to the parties and are used to pay for the primaries (e.g., printing ballots, renting voting machines, renting polling places, paying wages of election judges and election clerks). Election judges and clerks are party loyalists. The election worker positions are essentially patronage positions.
It is not at all unusual for a candidate to write a check to a party for the filing fee, and another check to the party (or a party affiliate) as a campaign contribution. A candidate may write a check to the Republican Party of Texas for a filing fee, and another check to the Harris County Republican Party as a campaign contribution.
A county party chair is not doing an effective job if they are not recruiting candidates. They may connect them with donors. The candidate can then write a check to the county party as a filing fee, and the county party will then campaign for their nominee.
The Republican Party nominated by convention in 23 of the 28 elections between 1906 and 1960. In none of those elections did a Republican pay a filing fee. Moreover, never in that period did a single Republican candidate have to file a sheet of paper asking to be considered for nomination at a convention.
Why is there pre-filing for primary elections? Simple – so ballots can be printed and distributed. Why are Democratic and Republican candidates charged a filing fee? To help pay for the primary. None of those filing fees go to help pay for general election. Instead the primaries are subsidized by the State of Texas using funds extracted from extraordinary decent Texans in the form of taxes.
At a convention the delegates can simply look around the room, and nominate someone. In an earlier time it would be offensive for a candidate to run for office. In 1960 the Republican Party nominated John Tower to run for the US Senate. Tower at the time was a young (35) professor at Midwestern State. The other noteworthy candidates declined to run. Lyndon Johnson was simultaneously running for Vice President and re-election for Senator. When he was elected Vice President, he resigned his Senate seat triggering a special election.
Tower had done credibly well in the 1960 election and continued to run in the special election which was held in April. There are no nominations for special elections in Texas and there were 71 candidates, including five major Democratic candidates, each of who hoped election would give them a Senate position for life. Tower led in the special election and narrowly won the runoff to become the first Republican senator from Texas since 1877.
Contemporaneously with the special runoff, the legislature passed a bill requiring candidates seeking nomination by convention, or independent candidates to file a declaration of candidacy. The legislation says it is unfair to primary parties that a convention party could determine who won a primary before choosing their nominee. The Texas Legislature in 1961 consisted of 150 Democratic Representatives and 31 Democratic Senators. The only primary party in 1960 was the Democratic Party. In essence, the declaration for Libertarians, Greens, and Independents is required because it was unfair that Tower was going to be elected. Ironically, the Republicans have never again nominated by convention.
That’s nice.