Texas has 32 U.S. House seats. In 12 of them, either no Republican is running, or no Democrat is running.

There is no Democrat running in these districts: 1,2,5,11,14,21, and 32 (7 districts). By contrast, in 2006, Democrats only skipped running in 4 districts.

There is no Republican running in these districts: 9,16,18,29, and 30 (5 districts). By contrast, in 2006, Republicans only skipped 3 districts.

The Libertarian Party has a candidate in every district except districts 1 and 13. Libertarians do have a candidate in Ron Paul’s 14th district, but he will withdraw if Paul is renominated. Paul has an opponent in the Republican primary, Chris Peden, a city councilman in Friendswood.

If the Green Party gets on the ballot, it will have candidates in these 4 districts: 3,22,25, and 31. If the Constitution Party gets on the ballot, it will have candidates in these 4 districts: 1,17,21, and 30. The Socialist Workers Party has named candidates in the 9th and 18th districts, and they will probably qualify as independent candidates by collecting 500 signatures each. Besides the SWP candidates, there are another 18 individuals who filed a Declaration of Candidacy as independent candidates for U.S. House, and they will also need 500 signatures each.

The long-delayed Tennessee ballot access case complaint has been drafted. It will be filed as soon as the local cooperating attorney is admitted to the U.S. District Court in Nashville. That should happen on January 10 or January 11.

On January 7, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Swanson v Chapman, the ballot access case filed in 2002. The lawsuit challenged the 3% petition for new and previously unqualified parties, and for non-presidential independents.