A former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor is suing Texas over what he calls an "insurmountable" burden to get on the ballot as an independent candidate.

Mike Collier lost to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in 2018 and 2022 while running as a Democrat, is looking to land on the November ballot as an independent.

The Texas election code requires a candidate seeking to get on a statewide ballot as an independent to obtain signatures equal to 1% of the total vote cast in the previous gubernatorial election.