<\/p>\n
A voter walks into the Como Community Center to cast her ballot on the first day of early voting in Tarrant County.<\/p>\n
Rachel Royster<\/p>\n
rroyster@star-telegram.com<\/p>\n
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says he has the conservative experience needed<\/a> to represent Texans in Washington for what would be his fifth term.<\/p>\n Attorney General Ken Paxton argues he\u2019s taken on Democratic administrations, big tech and big pharma in the courtroom and will battle the Washington establishment in the Capitol<\/a>.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston pitches himself as an alternative for Republicans \u2014 a bonafide conservative who\u2019s a fresh face.<\/a><\/p>\n For Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, it\u2019s her track record in Congress and fighting spirit that make her the best Democratic nominee.<\/a><\/p>\n State Rep. James Talarico of Round Rock says he\u2019s the person to unite Texans<\/a>, preaching a \u201clove thy neighbor\u201d approach to politics.<\/p>\n Each leading candidate in the Republican and Democratic primaries for U.S. Senate have made their case for why they should be elected in Washington \u2014 appealing to voters in ads, interviews and on the campaign trail at events across the state, including in Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n The months of appeals culminate in the March 3 election, building on high-volume early voting turnout.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a brawl to the finish line, as the candidates and their supporters spend big and, at times, take political punches.<\/p>\n Tuesday\u2019s outcome sets up the November ballot, a high-stakes election where every seat counts as Republicans try to keep control in Congress during a midterm year that could be favorable to Democrats \u2014 though a blue victory in the U.S. Senate remains an uphill feat.<\/p>\n Democrats make their case to North Texans<\/p>\n The five leading candidates \u2014 three in the Republican primary and two in the Democratic primary \u2014 have all made stops in North Texas in the final stretch of the primary, as they try to win over voters in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.<\/p>\n Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, predicts that the Democratic nominee will be selected without a runoff, given Talarico and Crockett are the main contenders for the statewide seat. Democrat Ahamd Hassan rounds out the slate of three candidates.<\/p>\n But the race is likely to be close, Rottinghaus said.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that either one of them is going to walk away with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Despite being a red state, Texas is trending toward the number of Democratic primary voters surpassing the number of Republican primary voters during in-person early voting. The Democratic primary has also seen higher voter turnout in Tarrant County, reversing the pattern of recent elections. The county is often referred to as a bellwether for the rest of the state.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it proves what I\u2019m seeing everywhere across the state, which is that there is a growing backlash to the extremism and the corruption in our government, and it\u2019s a bipartisan backlash,\u201d said Talarico, who\u2019s made multiple North Texas stops, including in Dallas on Wednesday.<\/p>\n A recent Democratic victory in a historically red state Senate district<\/a> has Democrats enthused and some Republicans worried for November.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that this is going to be the next battleground for Republicans countywide,\u201d Crockett said during a Feb. 19 campaign stop in Fort Worth. \u201cI think Tarrant County is on track to do what they need to do and actually flip this county blue.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the race has focused on Crockett and Talaricos\u2019 styles of campaigning and governing, rather than policy differences.<\/a><\/p>\n During a visit to a Fort Worth Church on Feb. 19, Crockett said she\u2019s the best candidate to take on Republicans in November, and defended her electability \u2014 saying that she\u2019s an experienced, effective member of Congress and more than the viral moments that have contributed to her high-profile status.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t want to be judged on anything other than my qualifications,\u201d Crockett said. \u201cI\u2019m not running because I\u2019m Black or because I\u2019m a woman. I\u2019m running because I\u2019ve got a record.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico, a former school teacher in the San Antonio school district and a Presbyterian seminarian, said in an interview that he\u2019s the only candidate who has won a competitive general election \u2014 flipping a state House seat in 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need someone with a proven track record of winning tough races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While in Dallas on Feb. 25 ahead of Election Day, he proposed unity over division in a time of polarized politics. He\u2019s advocated for that the fight in the U.S. isn\u2019t left versus right, but \u201ctop versus bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n Crockett, who previously served in the state House and worked as an attorney, has focused on energizing Democrats and getting them to the polls, while Talarico has emphasized the importance of Republicans and independents to a November victory.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to inspire Democrats to show up,\u201d Talarico said in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to peel people off from the middle and from the right. That\u2019s exactly how I flipped the Trump district in Williamson County, and I think that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to win this race in November of this year.\u201d<\/p>\n The Republican message in North Texas<\/p>\n Republicans are also fighting for North Texas voters in a GOP primary that will serve as a litmus test of where the electorate is politically during Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n Cornyn, of Austin, cast Paxton as a losing candidate in November during a Feb. 18 campaign visit to Fort Worth. The senator, who took office in 2003, highlighted his character and trust and relationships in Washington.<\/p>\n Paxton, of McKinney, has been on the receiving end of jabs about his 2023 impeachment, when he was accused of abusing his office to benefit a political donor<\/a>. He was later acquitted in a Senate trial. Paxton has also faced infidelity allegations as he goes through a divorce<\/a> from his wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, a McKinney Republican.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he is the nominee, he will either lose or he will win by a razor-thin margin, and it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to try and save him,\u201d Cornyn said of Paxton, adding that the money is better spent trying to pick up Senate seats in other parts of the country.<\/p>\n The day before in Allen, Paxton predicted that Cornyn may not even make it to a runoff election. He criticized Cornyn as part of the \u201cWashington swamp\u201d and pushed back on the idea that he\u2019d be easier for Democrats to defeat in a general, while talking with reporters after the campaign event.<\/p>\n \u201cThey may be excited,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to run against them, because \u2026 Republicans have held since \u201894. We\u2019re not going to lose this year.\u201d<\/p>\n During a recent trip to North Texas, Hunt said that like Cornyn, Paxton is a career politician.<\/a> Hunt has promised to serve up to 12 years \u2014 two terms \u2014 in the Senate. He spoke of his military service and promised to stay true to the priorities of the Trump administration during a trip to Denton on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States Senate is not the retirement community,\u201d Hunt said. \u201c24 years for an incumbent is long enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Hunt has likely pulled Cornyn and Paxton into a May 26 runoff, though Rottinghaus predicts Hunt won\u2019t appear on the ballot for the second round of voting even though he\u2019s surged in recent months.<\/p>\n Rottinghaus sees a vote for Hunt as a protest vote against Paxton or Cornyn.<\/p>\n \u201cPaxton\u2019s got the insurgent, very conservative MAGA Republicans all sewn up,\u201d Rottinghaus said. \u201cCornyn is holding onto the establishment, kind of, chamber of commerce Republicans who have traditionally been in charge in Texas since the 2000s, but are losing a grip on the party to a more conservative version of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been signals of Cornyn being pushed to the right. On the campaign trail, he\u2019s embraced Trump. (Cornyn has endorsed Trump in his two election bids, but has also wavered in his enthusiasm.) He\u2019s also adopted anti-Muslim rhetoric that\u2019s being used by GOP candidates across the state this primary season.<\/p>\n Trump has been complimentary of the three Senate candidates but hasn\u2019t endorsed, despite the candidates\u2019 efforts to link themselves to the president and his policies.<\/p>\n Money pours into Senate bids as races heat up<\/p>\n Since early in the election cycle, the Senate Republican primary has been contentious. Beyond Paxton\u2019s alleged legal and personal life troubles, Cornyn has been linked to Crockett<\/a> and a campaign staffer has been accused of \u201cdoxing.\u201d<\/a> Hunt has been accused of election fraud<\/a> and missing votes.<\/a><\/p>\n But in recent weeks, the Democratic primary has also heated up over purported comments Talarico made<\/a> about U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and Crockett\u2019s criticisms of a political action committee<\/a> that\u2019s supporting Talarico and targeting Crockett. Talarico saw a boost after a scuffle<\/a> between Stephen Colbert and CBS, that resulted in him appearing in a YouTube interview, rather than on the TV air waves.<\/a><\/p>\n Many of the jabs in both primaries are being made in political advertisements, where ad spending and reservations have topped $110 million<\/a>, according to AdImpact. Outside groups make up 70% of the spending and reservations.<\/p>\n The massive sum makes the Texas Senate primary the most expensive primary on record<\/a>, AdImpact Politics said in a social media post.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udd34Republican ad support: \ud83d\udd35Democratic ad support: \u2014 AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) February 23, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n In the Republican primary, Cornyn has received $64 million in ad support as of Feb. 23. Hunt has received $11.4 million and Paxton $3.6 million.<\/p>\n It takes money to get your message out in a state as big as Texas, Cornyn said in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Cornyn has raised more than $11 million, in addition to the $14 million from affiliated political action committees, according to the Federal Election Commission. Paxton has raised about $6 million and Hunt has raised about $2 million.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I hear my opponents whining \u2014 and I think that\u2019s the appropriate word to use \u2014 about the fact that they can\u2019t raise money, and we are able to do so, I think they realize that they are losing as a result,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n A January poll from the Hobby School of Public Affairs<\/a> at the University of Houston had Paxton 7 points ahead of Cornyn with 38% of votes. Hunt placed third with 17% of votes. The poll put Crockett eight points ahead of Talarico, with 47% of votes.<\/p>\n A poll from The Texas Politics Project<\/a> at UT Austin released Feb. 23 had Paxton leading Cornyn by two points, with 36% of votes. Hunt had 26%. Crockett led Talarico by 12 points. That day Talarico\u2019s campaign released an internal poll putting him ahead by four points<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the Democratic side, Talarico has received $17.6 million in ad support to Crockett\u2019s $4.3 million. Talarico raised about $21 million to Crockett\u2019s roughly $9 million, FEC records show.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to need someone who can even defy odds when money is thrown at them, because we know the Republicans are going to spend more money than the Democrats,\u201d Crockett told reporters while in Fort Worth. She later added, \u201cYou\u2019re going to need a candidate that can break through to people that aren\u2019t paying attention in the traditional spaces, and I think that that\u2019s my strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at the big picture, one thing is clear:<\/p>\n \u201cWe can tell Texas is in play,\u201d Rottinghaus said.<\/p>\n Staff writers Rachel Royster and Emily Holshouser contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Eleanor Dearman<\/a><\/p>\n Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She\u2019s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years. U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks at a Feb. 19 Fort Worth campaign event during early voting for the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. <\/p>\n
State Rep. James Talarico, Democratic primary candidate for U.S. Senate, looks at U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett during a debate at the 2026 Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune via POOL <\/p>\n
Sen. John Cornyn speaks at a Feb. 18 campaign event in Fort Worth. He\u2019s running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Eleanor Dearman <\/p>\n
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a campaign event in Allen on Feb. 17. He\u2019s running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. Eleanor Dearman <\/p>\n
John Cornyn: $64.0M
Wesley Hunt: $11.4M
Anti-Hunt: $5.4M
Anti-Cornyn: $3.6M
Ken Paxton: $3.6M<\/p>\n
James Talarico: $17.6M
Jasmine Crockett: $4.3M https:\/\/t.co\/A10QsZvEca<\/a><\/p>\n
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