What is on the ballot: A guide to contested North Texas races in the 2026 midterm election

Voters across North Texas encountered a crowded ballot in the midterm election held Nov. 3, 2026, with contests stretching from the U.S. Senate all the way down to city councils, school boards and municipal utility districts. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth published a sorted and alphabetized guide to the region's contested races, noting that uncontested contests were not included in the listings.

Federal races led the ballot. Texas voters decided a U.S. Senate race, along with the state's contests for the U.S. House.

Statewide races followed. The ballot included the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, GLO commissioner, agriculture commissioner and railroad commissioner. Voters also weighed races for the State Board of Education, the Texas Senate and the Texas House, as well as seats on the Texas Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals and the Courts of Appeals.

At the county level, the guide covered races in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties, including the contest for Tarrant County judge. The ballot also featured numerous bonds and propositions, which the guide broke down by schools, municipalities and counties.

Several joint elections spanned county lines. Those measures included Dallas Proposition A, covering Collin, Dallas and Denton counties; Flower Mound Proposition A, covering Tarrant and Denton counties; Garland Proposition A, covering Dallas and Collin counties; Plano Proposition A, covering Collin and Denton counties; and five Wylie measures, Propositions A through E, covering Dallas and Collin counties.

Because Wylie sits across the Dallas and Collin county line, its five propositions appeared for voters in both counties, listed separately for Dallas County voters only and Collin County voters only. Collin County ballots also included the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees race for Place 2.

Elsewhere in Collin County, contested items included county judge, county clerk, county commissioner for Precinct 4, justices of the peace in Precincts 2, 3 and 4, and county Propositions A through D. Voters there also decided Collin College District Proposition A, the Collin County Appraisal District Board Place 2 seat, McKinney ISD Propositions A through E, council and alderman seats in Josephine, Lavon, Lowry Crossing, Princeton and Weston, Anna Proposition A, Princeton ISD board of trustees seats, Bland ISD Proposition A, and a series of director and bond elections for Blue Meadow MUDs 2 and 4, Lavon MUD and The Preserve MUD.

In Dallas County, contested races included county judge, treasurer, county clerk, district clerk, commissioner for Precinct 2, constable for Precinct 2, district judge for the 298th Judicial District and justice of the peace seats across Precincts 1 through 4. Dallas County voters also decided Dallas County Proposition A, City of Dallas Proposition A, Irving ISD Propositions A through D, Mesquite ISD Proposition A and University Park Proposition A.

The guide emphasized that the lists reflected only contested races, and that voters could filter the full rundown by federal, state, county and bond or proposition categories to find exactly what applied to their ballot.