Signs are displayed outside of a voting center during primary election runoff day at Oak Lawn Library on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 in Dallas.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
Voters will settle key runoffs in Texas Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats cast ballots in congressional, statewide and county races, including a closely watched showdown for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
Winners will advance to November’s general election, which could reshape power and elevate the next generation of leaders in Texas politics.
Article continues below this ad
Voters must be in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday to vote in person. Election results will be posted live at dallasnews.com.
In a marquee U.S. Senate runoff, current Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton are facing off for the Republican nomination in one of the state’s most contentious campaigns. The winner will advance to face Democrat James Talarico in November.
The GOP battle was top of mind at polls across Dallas County. At Irving City Hall Tuesday, John Callaway climbed the steps to vote, but made a few stops before the ballot box. First he had to hand out peppermint candies to his fellow voters and the election clerks working inside.
Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.
Add Preferred Source
As a Republican, Callaway said he cast his vote with his nose plugged in the runoff for U.S. Senate.
Article continues below this ad
“I chose the least narcissistic,” he said, while politely declining to name who got his vote.
Bryan Auston, 62, said his decisions weren’t exactly easy on Tuesday, either, but ultimately cast a ballot for Paxton. He said his priority was supporting candidates who are strongest on gun rights.
“If you don’t vote you don’t have an argument,” he said.
Voters are also deciding runoffs in both parties for attorney general. In the North Texas Democratic congressional runoff, U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson is facing a challenge from former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.
Article continues below this ad
Here are live updates from the polls as the last ballots are cast.
Return to countywide voting
Voting unfolded slowly but smoothly in Dallas County’s runoff on Tuesday, a change from the chaos that took place during the March 3 primary election. After the county Republican Party forced a switch to precinct-based voting, thousands of confused voters from both parties, accustomed to the vote-anywhere system, were turned away from polls and redirected to their neighborhood voting sites.
Voters walk out of a voting center during primary election runoff day at University Park United Methodist Church on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
But Tuesday, there were no confused voters, no clerks having to send them to another location to cast their ballots, no frustration in the air as slow stream of voters trickled into The Father’s Church on Abrams Road.
Article continues below this ad
“It’s been quiet, thank goodness,” said Republican election Judge Lila Farmer.
Citing a fear of being sued for voter disenfranchisement, former GOP Chair Allen West then amended the party’s contract to return to countywide voting for the runoff where residents can cast a ballot at any vote center regardless of address.
Still, the runoff remained a non-joint election, meaning Democrats and Republicans were required to announce their affiliation by using separate check-in tables, voting machines and election workers within the same locations.
Those who voted in a party’s March primary must stay with that party in the runoff. Those who skipped the March primary can participate in either runoff.
Article continues below this ad
Volunteers wave signs outside of Fretz Park library during primary election runoff day, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
Trump chimes in, Angela Paxton quiet
President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Paxton scrambled the final days of Texas’ Republican Senate runoff. Some allies of the attorney general acted as if the endorsement decided the race in Paxton’s favor, while others warned it should not be mistaken for actual votes.
Article continues below this ad
Cornyn, meanwhile, vowed to press on, arguing Texans alone would decide the race.
The stakes are especially high in a matchup in which early voting has collapsed from March primary levels, leaving both sides trying to maximize turnout after Trump’s late intervention.
State Sen. Angela Paxton urged Republicans to vote in Tuesday’s runoff but stopped short of endorsing anyone in the Senate race featuring the attorney general, her estranged husband. Angela Paxton has filed for divorce from Ken Paxton, accusing him of adultery.
Article continues below this ad
Voters weigh Senate options
At Fretz Park Branch Library in Far North Dallas, Jerry Bissey, 76, cast a ballot for Cornyn in the closely-watched Senate runoff against Paxton.
The decision was tough for Bissey, who said he liked that Paxton’s policy positions were more conservative than Cornyn’s.
“He doesn’t side with Trump nearly enough,” Bissey said of Cornyn.
Article continues below this ad
Voters walk out of a voting center during primary election runoff day at University Park United Methodist Church on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
His choice ultimately came down to the corruption allegations against Paxton and the attorney general’s 2023 impeachment.
Melanie Wright, 75, cast her ballot for Paxton and said she would have voted for him even if President Trump hadn’t endorsed him. Wright said that the corruption allegations that led to Paxton’s 2023 impeachment by the Texas House didn’t influence her vote because she said the candidate was “vindicated” when the Senate acquitted him.
“I was tired of John Cornyn,” Wright said at Fretz Park Branch Library. “He’s been living on his laurels a long time.”
Article continues below this ad
She said she appreciated that Paxton has been an “aggressive” attorney general, filing lawsuits against big companies. Paxton’s extramarital affair, which Cornyn’s campaign has highlighted in attack ads, didn’t affect Wright’s support either.
“We’re not electing a preacher,” she said.
Democrats divided in District 33
Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and incumbent U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are facing off in Tuesday’s runoff for a newly drawn North Texas district, capping a race that has turned the onetime Democratic allies against each other.
Article continues below this ad
The intraparty fight — one of the most closely watched this cycle — for the Dallas-based District 33 stems from a Republican-led redrawing of Texas’ congressional map aimed at maintaining the party’s narrow majority in Washington.
Volunteers wave signs outside of Fretz Park library during primary election runoff day, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News
The contest could also change the Democratic lineup in Washington, either unseating Johnson after one term or keeping out Allred, the former three-term congressman who vacated the seat and lost a 2024 bid for the Senate.
The district strongly favors Democrats, with the winner all but assured of capturing the congressional seat. Allred finished first in the March primary but fell short of the votes needed to win outright.
Article continues below this ad
Johnson greeted voters as they left Oak Lawn Library Tuesday evening. Volunteers for Democratic candidates held signs and chanted slogans outside the library, hoping to influence last-minute voters.
“Runoff turnout is always lower than regular primary, but it’s a highly informed electorate,” Johnson said. “We’re excited about where we are.”
— Chase Rogers and Angela Mathew
Article continues below this ad
This story is developing and will be updated.
Staff writers Karen Brooks Harper and Aarón Torres contributed to this report.