Texas may be a gun friendly state, but the chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association still found himself in the backyard one of his most feared political foes of the 2026 midterm elections when the NRA returned to Houston this weekend.

One of the main missions of the NRA’s 155th annual meeting was to raise the alarm to its members that Democrat James Talarico might win the Texas race for U.S. Senate in November, said John Commerford, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

“It looks like the Democrat Party hatched him out of an egg to run on the Democrat ticket in Texas,” Commerford said. “He is a formidable candidate, and voters should take that seriously.”

READ MORE: What the NRA is doing to rebuild its membership in Texas and beyond

The NRA returned to Houston for its annual meeting for the first time since 2022 during a time of rebuilding, both in terms of membership and in political clout. The organization is still recovering from the reports two years ago that then-CEO Wayne LaPierre had spent more than $11 million on private flights and signed off on $135 million in NRA contracts in exchange for yacht access and free trips to high-profile resort destination. LaPierre resigned amid the adverse publicity.

The gathering drew 70,000 visitors from all over the country. More than 800 vendors showcased an array of weaponry from state-of-the-art military-style firearms to flintlock-firing Kentucky Long Rifles of the 1770s inside the sprawling exhibit hall of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Justin Davis, the association’s chief spokesman, said the NRA has taken steps to rebuild trust within the membership. That includes refocusing on its core mission of vigorously advocating for the protection of existing gun rights and pushing to expand them where possible in states around the nation.

That’s why the Senate race in Texas looms so large, both Davis and Commerford said. Republicans, who historically have been more sympathetic to the NRA agenda than Democrats, entered the 2026 midterm cycle with a slim 53-47 advantage in the Senate. Because Texas has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1988, a win by Talarico could signal a tsunami that would wash away GOP seats in Republican-leaning states like North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio.

Even before the NRA gathering, which ended Monday, the organization was looking for ways to blunt any momentum gained by Talarico since he secured the Democratic nomination in the March 3 primary.

Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, has sought to brand himself as a Democrat who can bridge the partisan divide. But the NRA has dubbed the state representative from Austin as “Beto 2.0,” a reference to the former El Paso congressman’s pledge in confiscate privately owned high-capacity military-style rifles. The group has sought to highlight Talarico’s vote against the permitless carrying of handguns and advocacy of stricter background checks for gun buyers.

Talarico’s camp cited a poll in February 2025 by the University of Houston showing that by a 9-1 margin, Texans support such measures as requiring criminal background checks to purchase guns and restricting purchases by people who have been placed under restraining orders for domestic violence and stalking offenses.

“James agrees with the vast majority of Texans that we must protect the Second Amendment and enact popular, common sense measures like universal background checks that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals,” said Talarico spokesman JT Ennis.

Mike Cox, an NRA member from Dripping Springs and a firearms instructor, said he is also worried about the Senate race. But his first concern is the upcoming Republican runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn drew the ire of some gun rights advocates when he helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act after the deadly May 2022 shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde.

The measure, considered the most significant federal gun safety legislation in decades, enhanced background checks for buyers under 21 and provided federal funding to enforce so-called red flag laws at the state level. Cornyn has described the law as “fundamentally important to the country,” but Cox said many gun rights advocates are still chafing.

“You’ll be surprised at the NRA members that will support Paxton,” Cox said.

Davis, the NRA communications chief, said the Paxton-Cornyn race is not the association’s concern.

“Whoever emerges from the runoff, that’s who we will be supporting,” he said. “Texas may well decide who runs the Senate. So that’s what we’re focused on.”

READ MORE: Talarico announces $27 million in fundraising in first quarter of 2026

Scott Lovin, a rank-and-file NRA member from St. Augustine, Fla., said the organization’s leadership is right to be concerned about the political climate at a time that President Donald Trump’s popularity has dipped to its lowest level of either of his terms in the White House.

“Historically, you have a lot of turnover when you hit the midterm,” Lovin said.

The NRA bucked the Trump administration — and the president himself — after federal agents in January shot and killed licensed handgun carrier Alex Pretti during an immigration rally in Minnesota. Trump told reporters in the immediate aftermath that he was troubled that someone would carry a gun to a protest knowing that heavily armed federal agents would be one the scene.

“You can’t have guns,” Trump told reporters at the time. “You can’t walk in with guns.”

In Houston, Commerford downplayed the comment from the president.

“We look at action and what has he done,” Commerford said. “He is by far and away the most pro-gun president, the most pro-gun administration, that we’ve had in our history.”