In Re Ronald Whitfield v. the State of Texas

• Court: Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston)
• Decided: February 10, 2026
• Docket: 01-26-00111-CV
• Status: Published

Opinion

Opinion issued February 10, 2026

In The

Court of Appeals For The

First District of Texas ———————————— NO. 01-26-00111-CV ——————————— IN RE RONDALD DWAYNE WHITFIELD, Relator

Original Proceeding on Petition for Writ of Mandamus

MEMORANDUM OPINION Relator, Ronald Dwayne Whitfield, a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling

order, filed a pro se petition for writ of mandamus, in which he appears to challenge

the January 28, 2026 “Administrative Order on a Vexatious Litigant.” In that order,

the Local Administrative District Judge denied Whitfield’s request “to file a lawsuit

declaring the special election for Texas Congressional District 18 void based on his

allegation that the Governor’s Proclamation calling for the special election was not

signed in the presence of the Texas Secretary of State.” Whitfield’s mandamus petition argued that “[t]he Local Administrative Judge’s order exceed[ed] the scope

of her authority” and that the Local Administrative Judge “used the ‘Gatekeeper’

office to protect the State from an adversarial challenge, rather than to protect the

[c]ourt from a frivolous one.”1

Generally, the Clerk of this Court may not file an appeal or original

proceeding in a civil matter presented by a vexatious litigant subject to a pre-filing

order unless: (1) the litigant first obtains an order from the local administrative judge

permitting the filing or (2) the litigant is appealing from a pre-filing order declaring

the person a vexatious litigant. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 11.103(a).

Here, relator has not provided the Court with any indication that he obtained

permission from the local administrative judge prior to filing his mandamus petition.

However, relator’s petition appears to challenge a January 28, 2026

“Administrative Order on a Vexatious Litigant: Ronald Dwayne Whitfield,” signed

by the Honorable Gloria E. Lopez, the Local Administrative District Judge of Harris

County, Texas. In the order, Judge Lopez denied Whitfield’s request to “file a

lawsuit declaring the special election for Texas Congressional District 18 void.”

Judge Lopez identified several reasons for the denial of Whitfield’s request,

including that “[a]ny injunction or attempt by the judiciary to delay the election

1 The respondent is the Honorable Gloria E. Lopez, the Local Administrative District Judge of Harris County, Texas.

2 process once it commences is improper” and that the “special election for Texas

Congressional District 18 ha[d] already begun and the runoff election [was]

currently underway, making [Whitfield’s] election challenge moot.” Judge Lopez

further found that “the allegations raised [by Whitfield] fail[ed] to give rise to a

potentially viable claim, and that Mr. Whitfield’s request [did] not have merit and

[was] brought for purposes of harassment.”

Our review of the petition for writ of mandamus reflects that Whitfield has

failed to establish that he is entitled to mandamus relief, and we therefore deny the

petition. We dismiss any pending motions as moot.

PER CURIAM

Panel consists of Justices Guerra, Caughey, and Dokupil.