CWG releases She Runs Texas: 2026 candidate profiles
Feb. 3, 2026 ― DENTON ― The Center for Women in Government (CWG) at the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership (JNIWL) has released She Runs Texas: 2026 Candidate Profiles, a new analysis examining women candidates who filed to run for county, state and federal office in Texas during the 2026 election cycle.
She Runs Texas: 2026 Candidate Profiles is available online at https://twu.edu/center-women-government/research-projects/she-runs-texas/
Using official Texas Secretary of State candidate filing records compiled after the filing deadline, the analysis shows that 2,090 women filed to run for office, representing 39.9% of all candidates statewide.
“This data provides a clear snapshot of women’s participation in higher-level public office across Texas,” said Marlene Phillips, director of the Center for Women in Government. “By producing She Runs Texas on a regular, biennial basis, we aim to track trends over time and better understand how women’s participation in public office is evolving across election cycles.”
Key findings include:
- Women filed to run for county, state and federal offices across Texas, demonstrating participation at every level of higher office.
- The largest concentration of women candidates is at the county and state levels, particularly in judicial and legislative races.
- Women are running for a wide range of offices, including state representative, State Board of Education, district and county judge, county and district attorney, and U.S. House of Representatives.
- Women candidates are geographically dispersed across the state, with notable concentrations in both urban and rural counties.
- Counties with the highest number of women candidates include Harris County (51), Bexar County (30), Dallas County (28), Tarrant County (18) and Uvalde County (18).
The analysis also shows a near-even split between experienced officeholders and first-time or nonincumbent candidates, with 1,085 nonincumbent women candidates and 1,005 incumbent women candidates.
Women candidates by party
Women are running in both major political parties:
- 668 women filed as Democrats, representing 48.8% of all Democratic candidates.
- 1,422 women filed as Republicans, representing 36.7% of all Republican candidates.
About the analysis
She Runs Texas: 2026 Candidate Profiles includes candidates who filed to run for county, state and federal office and excludes municipal races, school board elections and political party offices. Because the analysis is based on official filing records, it may include candidates who later suspended or discontinued their campaigns. Gender classification is based on traditional name usage and publicly available online information. Some candidate records contain incomplete or limited data.
The data reflects candidate participation only and does not indicate election outcomes. Future editions of She Runs Texas will allow for comparison across election cycles and help identify long-term trends in women’s participation in public office. This report is part of a planned, ongoing series that CWG will produce every two years ahead of federal, state and county primary elections.
The Center for Women in Government is a program of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership at Texas Woman’s University. The JNIWL is dedicated to preparing women for successful careers in business and public service. Its three specialized centers—Center for Women Entrepreneurs, Center for Women in Government, and Center for Leadership Research and Workforce Development—ensure women have the education to establish careers as successful executives, the skills for building entrepreneurial businesses and the framework needed to excel in public service.
Page last updated 9:49 AM, February 4, 2026