# Texas Senate race 2026

Open Republican seat. Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) faces state Rep. James Talarico (D) after Paxton beat Sen. John Cornyn in a runoff.

- Office: U.S. Senate
- Rating: Toss-up (Cook Political Report, Oct 20, 2026)
- Sabato's Crystal Ball: Toss-up
- Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/election/tx-senate/
- Back to [Election Headquarters](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/election/)

## Who is running

- Ken Paxton (Republican): open seat
- James Talarico (Democrat): open seat

## The facts

- Paxton beat Cornyn in the May 26 runoff. President Trump endorsed Paxton on May 19. (Wikipedia)
- Talarico beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary. (Wikipedia)
- A Cook poll, Oct. 9-13, 2026, of 934 likely Texas voters (margin of error 3.2 points) found Talarico ahead by 5 points. (Cook, via Yahoo News)
- Cook moved Texas from Leans Republican to Toss Up. (Mediaite)

## Why this race matters to conservatives (opinion)

Texas is a large Republican state, and Cook and Sabato both call this seat a toss-up.

This section is the opinion of RightNewsRightNow. The rest of the page is reporting.

## Where these facts come from

- [Cook Political Report](https://www.270towin.com/2026-senate-election/cook-political-report-2026-senate): current rating, as of Oct 20, 2026
- [Wikipedia (election pages, with their cited sources)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_elections): candidate and race facts