A mess in Texas? What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries | National

NEW YORK (AP) — The 2026 midterm season begins in earnest on Tuesday with two of the nation’s most consequential Senate primaries playing out in Texas, a political behemoth that Democrats have been fighting to flip for decades.

Is this the year? Republican leaders in Washington openly fret that a victory by conservative firebrand Ken Paxton over four-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn would give Democrats a rare shot of winning the seat come November. The contest has already cost Republicans tens of millions of dollars, and there will be much more spent ahead of a May 26 runoff if no one gets 50% in the three-way primary that also includes Rep. Wesley Hunt.

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