Talarico Beats Crockett in Texas Democrats’ Senate Primary as GOP Heads to Runoff Campaign

Texas Democrats’ dream scenario is now a reality after state representative James Talarico won an outright majority of the primary vote for this year’s U.S. Senate race, giving him a three-month headstart over the eventual Republican nominee who now must go through the slog of a runoff campaign. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has yet to concede and Mr. Talarico has not declared victory, though the Associated Press called the primary race for Mr. Talarico shortly before three o’clock in the morning on Wednesday. Texas and North Carolina voters went to the polls on Tuesday for the first primaries of the 2026 cycle, giving political observers the first concrete data about this year’s electorate. The most important takeaway from the primaries is that Democrats are motivated to get out and vote.Mr. Talarico is set to beat Ms. Crockett by high single-digits. He currently leads the congresswoman by about eight points. Ms. Crockett was endorsed by Vice President Kamala Harris and a number of her fellow members of Congress, though Mr. Talarico’s strength among Hispanic voters helped him clinch the nomination. Mr. Talarico spoke to his supporters at a party in Austin, Texas in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He did not declare victory, but expressed confidence that he would be his party’s nominee for this year’s U.S. Senate race. “Thank you for staying up!” Mr. Talarico enthusiastically told the crowd. “We are still waiting for an official call, but we are confident in this movement we’ve built together.”Speaking to supporters on Tuesday night, Ms. Crockett said she would not make a definitive statement about the race until Wednesday. “I have no idea of when we’re going to get results,” Ms. Crockett said. She cited voting issues in her own district in Dallas County, which led a state judge to extend voting by two hours late on Tuesday. The state supreme court quickly blocked that order, however. Mr. Talarico’s strength came from dominating in heavily Hispanic areas across the state, including in the Rio Grande Valley and in West Texas. He was also able to win his home county — Travis County, which encompasses the state capital of Austin — and the county surrounding San Antonio by double-digits. On the GOP side, Republicans in Washington also received some good news — the incumbent, Senator John Cornyn, was able to keep the GOP primary narrow, coming in first place by about one point. As of Wednesday morning, he is still leading his conservative opponent, state attorney general Ken Paxton, even though polling had shown that Mr. Cornyn was at risk of coming in second place, possibly by double-digits. Because neither candidate was able to win a majority of the vote, Messrs. Cornyn and Paxton will again face each other, this time in a runoff election at the end of May. That three-month campaign could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, draining valuable resources from Senate Republicans’ campaign operation that could be put to use in a number of competitive seats. “I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered, and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years,” Mr. Cornyn said, making the case that he is best positioned to keep the seat in Republican hands come November. Texas Democrats had a great night not only because they have a three-month headstart on the Senate race, but also because of their voter turnout. In a state that President Trump won by more than 13 points — and despite both Democrats and Republicans having competitive Senate primaries — about as many Democrats voted in their primary on Tuesday than Republicans did in theirs. As of Wednesday morning, about four million Texans had voted in the Senate primaries — two million Republicans and two million Democrats. For House members, the Texas results became more about personalities and less about policy. Congressman Tony Gonzales, who has been accused of sexually harassing an aide who later committed suicide, is headed to a runoff election with a conservative opponent. Congresswoman Julie Johnson is also set for a runoff campaign after she came in second place behind her own predecessor, Congressman Colin Allred, in the Democratic primary. Two sitting House Democrats — Congressmen Al Green and Christian Menefee — will likely be forced into a runoff campaign, as well. They were pitted against each other in the Democratic primary due to Republicans’ redistricting effort last summer. That race has become less about progressive bonafides, and more about generational change, as Mr. Green is 76 while Mr. Menefee is only 37. The only House Republican to lose outright on Tuesday was Congressman Dan Crenshaw — a Navy SEAL deemed not sufficiently “MAGA” by other Republicans. He lost his primary to conservative state representative Steve Toth by double-digits. Mr. Toth was endorsed by Senator Ted Cruz. Mr. Crenshaw’s GOP primary race was only one of two Texas House primaries — along with Mr. Gonzales’ — in which Mr. Trump did not make an endorsement. In North Carolina, a competitive primary for a heavily Democratic House seat was more ideological. Congresswoman Valerie Foushee — who has taken millions of dollars from defense contractors groups funded by AI companies — is facing off against progressive Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam. As of Wednesday morning, Ms. Foushee leads Ms. Allam by less than one percentage point. Like with Texas Democrats, North Carolina Democrats also received good news with respect to voter turnout. Neither the Republican nor Democratic parties had competitive primaries this year for the state’s U.S. Senate race, though Democrats turned out at much higher rates than Republicans did on Tuesday. The state’s Democratic former governor, Roy Cooper, won the Senate nomination after more than 824,000 votes were cast in his party’s primary. The GOP nominee, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, won the primary, though only 625,000 votes were cast in that contest.

Talarico Beats Crockett in Texas Democrats’ Senate Primary as GOP Heads to Runoff Campaign

Talarico Beats Crockett in Texas Democrats’ Senate Primary as GOP Heads to Runoff Campaign

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