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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.
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 two years of [Trump's] agenda is jeopardized, as well as everybody down ballot that we need to continue to elect as Republicans."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican Senate candidate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event on primary eve, in Waco, Texas, on March 2, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Paxton, a MAGA firebrand who grabbed significant national attention by filing lawsuits against the Obama and Biden administrations, pushed back, telling Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary that "I'm 3-0. I've won three statewide races."
Pointing to public opinion polls suggesting he has the edge over Cornyn, Paxton argued, "it's really easy for him to say that when he's losing a primary, because he's not delivered for the people of Texas, and he's going to find out tomorrow what that means. He's going to end up losing."
"This idea that I can't win a race is not true... there's no evidence of what he's saying is being true. As a matter of fact, the evidence is just the opposite," Paxton added.
The GOP nomination battle was a two-person race until Hunt, a West Point graduate and military veteran who flew helicopters during his service and who represents a solidly red district in suburban Houston, announced his candidacy last autumn.
Republican Senate candidate Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas is interviewed by Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary, in Houston, Texas on March 2, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The final public opinion polls suggested Paxton with the edge over Cornyn, with Hunt in third place. If no candidate tops 50% of the vote in Tuesday's primary, the top two finishers will face off in a late May runoff.
"I think there's going to be a runoff, no matter what happens," Cornyn said.
Paxton, speaking to supporters on primary eve, touted that "if we go to a runoff, the odds get better for me."
Hunt, in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the primary, argued that he's "the best candidate to win the primary and win the general, and I'm already outperforming both candidates, both Ken and John, in the general election against James Talarico or Jasmine Crockett. These are facts."
And pointing to the negative ads from Cornyn and his allies that have targeted him the past couple of weeks, Hunt said "they have spent tens of millions of dollars against me in the state of Texas, which means that I must be doing the right thing, and I must be a threat. DC will not decide who will be the next senator from Texas. Texans will and that's why I got in this race."
Trump, whose clout over the GOP remains immense, has stayed neutral to date in the Republican primary. All three candidates, who have sought the president's endorsement, were in attendance Friday as Trump held an event in Corpus Christi, Texas.
"They're in a little race together," Trump said of Cornyn and Paxton. "You know that, right? A little bit of a race. It's going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people, too."
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in a Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Feb. 27, 2026. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump also complimented Hunt, and said that all three contenders were engaged in an "interesting election."
QUITE GOP ‘ASTROTURF’ CAMPAIGN CONVINCED CROCKETT TO JUMP INTO SENATE RACE
In the final weeks leading up to the Democratic primary, race became a key issue in the showdown between the 44-year-old Crockett, a civil rights attorney first elected to Congress in 2022, and the 36-year-old Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who is considered a rising star among Democrats.
Crockett, who is Black, claimed a couple of weeks ago that a Talarico-aligned super PAC had darkened her skin tone in an ad and said it was "straight up racist."
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks to reporters after announcing her run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Dec. 8, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
And Crockett argued late last month that criticisms claiming that she wasn't electable statewide was a "dog whistle" that was "tearing down a Black woman," and that she was the "most qualified" candidate.
Talarico, who was first elected to the Texas House in 2018 by flipping a red district in northeast Austin and surrounding suburbs, has highlighted his ability to win over Republican voters. And he questioned whether Crockett could run a competitive general election campaign.
And Talarico, who is White, was also accused a month ago by an influencer of calling former Rep. Colin Allred, a one-time rival for the 2026 Senate nomination, a "mediocre Black man."
Allred, the 2024 Democratic Senate nominee, was making a second straight run after losing two years ago to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a conservative firebrand, by eight points.
But Allred ended his Senate campaign late last year, just before Crockett announced her candidacy. Allred, a former college football star who played professionally in the NFL and later became a civil rights attorney, is now running for his old House seat.
Morgan Thompson, the influencer who goes by the username @morga_tt on TikTok, in a social media post accused Talarico of saying in a private conversation with her that he had "signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable, intelligent, Black woman."
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate, greets supporters after a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, on March 1, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Pushing back against Thompson's characterization of their conversation, Talarico said in a statement, "In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not. I would never attack him on the basis of race."
Allred, responding in a social media video, said: "James, if you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man."
Crockett, who days later was endorsed by Allred, said in a statement that the former congressman "drew a line in the sand."
"He made it clear that he did not take allegations of an attack on him as simply another day in the neighborhood, but more importantly, his post wasn’t about himself," she said. "It was a moment that he decided to stand for all people who have been targeted and talked about in a demeaning way as our country continues to be divided."
