Texas Senate primaries explode as Cornyn warns Paxton could cost GOP majority, Democrats clash over race
The 2026 primary season kicks off on Tuesday with showdowns in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas, with contests that could ultimately decide whether Republicans can hold their House and Senate...
By Fox News · Fox News
The 2026 primary season kicks off on Tuesday with showdowns in Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas, with contests that could ultimately decide whether Republicans can hold their House and Senate majorities in the midterm elections . Taking center stage this week: the combustible Democratic and Republican Senate primaries in right-leaning Texas. Progressive firebrand Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a nationally known politician and vocal critic of President Donald Trump , is facing off against rising star Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico in the battle for the Democratic Senate nomination. Either Crockett or Talarico will try to become the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win a Senate election in Texas, as the primary winner will face off against whoever comes out on top of a bruising three-way Republican primary among longtime incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Rep. Wesley Hunt. PAXTON DEMANDS STRICTER VETTING AFTER DEADLY TEXAS RAMPAGE The Cornyn campaign and aligned super PACs have spent nearly $100 million to run ads attacking Paxton and Hunt, with the senator charging in the closing weeks of the primary campaign that Democrats will flip the seat in the general election if Paxton's the GOP's nominee. Cornyn, his allies, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee , the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, have repeatedly pointed to the slew of scandals and legal problems that have battered Paxton over the past decade, as well as his ongoing messy divorce. TRUMP'S IRAN STRIKE ROCKS SENATE PRIMARIES IN TEXAS "If I'm the nominee, I'll help President Trump by making sure that we carry the five new congressional seats as well as maintain this Senate seat and will help him continue his agenda through the last two years of his term of office," Cornyn touted in a Fox News Digital interview. And, he argued, "If the Democrats win, because we nominate a flawed candidate with incredible baggage like the attorney general, then that last…