{"id":28608,"date":"2026-02-18T00:57:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/why-primary-elections-matter-a-march-madness-metaphor\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T00:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T06:57:01","slug":"why-primary-elections-matter-a-march-madness-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/why-primary-elections-matter-a-march-madness-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Primary Elections Matter: A March Madness Metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"by Brandon C. Alderete, Texas REALTORS\u00ae Director of Political Affairs\nEvery spring, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, trying to predict which team will cut down the nets in March Madness. But there\u2019s another kind of bracket happening this time of year\u2014one that decides the political landscape that shapes your business environment. Primary elections narrow a field of candidates down to a single nominee for each party who will appear on the ballot in November.\nBut too many people treat primaries like early round games no one watches\u2014and that\u2019s a big mistake if you care about economic development, housing policy, property taxes, and local regulations. As Texas REALTORS\u00ae director of political affairs for 13 years, I\u2019ve seen many primaries where REALTORS\u00ae have made the difference in razor-thin election results, electing candidates who have gone on to cast important votes for the benefit of real estate professionals and consumers.\nPrimaries Are the Opening Rounds \u2026 But Often Decide the Champion\nIn basketball brackets, the early rounds narrow the field until only two competitors are left to vie for the championship. Election primaries play the same role: They determine who competes in the general election. And in most districts in Texas, the primary winner is highly likely to ultimately get elected in November.\nLow turnout in primaries means that a small, highly motivated group decides the outcomes.\nJust like a sleeper team surprising everyone in March Madness, unexpected candidates\u2014with harmful ideas about land use, taxes, or development\u2014can emerge victorious in a primary and set the tone for years.\nEngagement = Filling Out Your Bracket\nEveryone knows that you can\u2019t win your office pool if you don\u2019t fill out a bracket. The same is true for civic engagement:\n\nVoters who participate in primaries shape the choices that appear on the November ballot.\nVoters who skip primaries hand the decision-making to others.\n\nThe early rounds matter! But here\u2019s the problem: Turnout in Texas primary elections is dramatically lower than in general elections.\nWhy REALTORS\u00ae Should Care\nYou work in one of the most heavily regulated industries there is. Having real estate-friendly people in decision-making roles is advantageous to the way you make a living.\nEngaged members at local REALTOR\u00ae associations across the state have met with candidates and asked questions important to the real estate profession. These REALTORS\u00ae recommended their choices to TREPAC for the primary elections. Their decisions are based solely on how candidates support polices favorable to real estate issues. You can view the Texas REALTORS\u00ae-supported candidates on your ballot at texasrealtorssupport.com.\nDon\u2019t Treat the Primaries Like an Unimportant Game\nIn March Madness, a first-round loss knocks that team out of the tournament. Likewise, primary elections determine who will play in the final game. In many races, the primary election essentially is the final round; the winning candidate is all but guaranteed to get elected in the general election.\nDon\u2019t ignore the early rounds\u2014they matter more than you think.\nVote on or before March 3, 2026.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Brandon C. Alderete, Texas REALTORS\u00ae Director of Political Affairs Every spring, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, trying to predict which team will cut down the nets in March Madness. But there\u2019s another kind of bracket happening this time of year\u2014one that decides the political landscape that shapes your business environment. Primary elections [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28608\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pintailcos.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}