Texas will host a slate of high-profile primary runoff races Tuesday, with Republicans and Democrats alike eyeing the Lone Star State as a major battleground ahead of the midterm elections.
Several races advanced to runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary, the first major nominating contest of the 2026 cycle.
The contests could carry national implications. Texas will be ground zero for the Democratic Party’s efforts to reconnect with Hispanic voters after President Donald Trump made inroads with the group in 2024. Democrats are also hopeful that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico can be competitive in the general and flip the seat.
Here’s what to watch:
John Cornyn vs. Ken Paxton
Four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face off in the most closely watched Republican runoff in the country. The bruising battle only escalated further after President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton last week.
Trump’s endorsement was widely viewed as a major breakthrough for Paxton after both candidates spent months courting the president’s support. Cornyn led the March primary with 42% of the vote, narrowly ahead of Paxton’s 40.5%.
The winner will face Talarico, a Texas state representative.
The race has exposed broader divisions inside the Republican Party between establishment conservatives and the party’s more confrontational populist wing.
Cornyn has spent much of the campaign defending his conservative credentials against attacks portraying him as an outdated Bush-era Republican. Paxton and his allies have repeatedly targeted Cornyn over his support for a bipartisan gun control deal following the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
Paxton, meanwhile, has faced relentless attacks from the Cornyn camp over his personal and political scandals, including his 2023 impeachment trial in Texas over allegations of bribery and abuse of office. The attorney general was later acquitted by the Texas Senate.
Following Trump’s endorsement, many national Republicans expressed concerns Paxton could cost them the race.
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“Trump’s late intervention could force Republicans to waste massive sums defending Texas in the general election — money that otherwise would go to Michigan, Maine, and Alaska,” said GOP strategist Dennis Lennox.
Can Chip Roy win statewide?
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is facing one of the toughest races of his political career as he battles Texas state Sen. Mayes Middleton in the Republican runoff for attorney general. The winner is widely expected to succeed Paxton, given that no Democrat has been elected attorney general since 1994.
Middleton finished first in the March primary with 39.1% of the vote, while Roy received 31.6%. Turnout is expected to drop sharply in the runoff.
Roy has built a national profile as one of the most outspoken conservative members of the House. He’s frequently opposed GOP leadership on spending and border policy.
Middleton has leaned heavily on personal wealth throughout the race, spending more than $11 million of his own money attacking Roy.
The race has also reopened old tensions between Roy and Paxton. Roy previously called on Paxton to resign during the attorney general’s 2020 bribery and abuse-of-office scandal.
Neither candidate has secured Trump’s endorsement, though several congressional conservatives have rallied behind Roy.
Christian Menefee vs. Al Green
Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX) and longtime Rep. Al Green (D-TX) are heading into a closely watched runoff after Texas redistricting placed the two incumbents in the same district.
Age and generational change have become central themes in the contest between the 78-year-old Green and the 38-year-old Menefee, who was sworn into Congress earlier this year after winning a special election to replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner.
Menefee narrowly led the March primary with 46% of the vote, compared to Green’s 44.2%.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Senate nomination this cycle, endorsed Menefee last week.
Julie Johnson vs. Colin Allred
Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) is facing former Rep. Colin Allred in a high-profile Democratic runoff. Allred abandoned his Senate bid earlier this cycle to run for the seat.
Johnson succeeded Allred in 2024 when he retired to mount a run against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). Allred won the Democratic nomination for Senate, but lost to Cruz by more than 900,000 votes.
The failed Senate campaigns have boosted Allred’s name recognition and fundraising advantage over Johnson. Allred led the March primary with 44% of the vote, compared to Johnson’s 33.2%.
“Some people thought this race would be outright decided last night,” Johnson said in a statement. “Instead we forced a runoff with a candidate with statewide name recognition and a significant financial advantage.”
The race has grown increasingly bitter in recent weeks, with Johnson accusing Allred of taking positions too friendly to Republicans while campaigning alongside Talarico, the Democrat who replaced Allred atop the Senate ticket. Crockett has endorsed Allred in the runoff.
The winner of the race is likely to be the next member of Congress from the seat given its heavily Democratic lean.
Texas’s 35th Congressional District
Voters in Texas’s 35th Congressional District will also decide both the GOP and Democratic nominees on Tuesday.
On the Republican side, state Rep. John Lujan faces Air Force veteran and businessman Carlos De La Cruz. Lujan led the March primary with 33% of the vote, while De La Cruz received 26.8%.
Democrats will choose between housing advocate and sex therapist Maureen Galindo and former Bexar County public information officer Johnny Garcia.
Galindo has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks over a series of inflammatory social media posts, including one suggesting ICE detention facilities could become internment camps for “American Zionists and former ICE officers.” House Democratic leadership condemned the comments. Several House Democrats also vowed to oust Galindo if she is elected.
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The controversy has complicated the race for Democrats in a district party strategists view as competitive.
Galindo narrowly finished ahead of Garcia in the March primary, receiving 29.2% of the vote to Garcia’s 27.1%. Garcia is backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
