Texas held its 2026 primary elections on Tuesday, and by nightfall, the state’s political landscape looked more volatile — and more expensive — than perhaps anyone anticipated. Two marquee Senate races, a gubernatorial nomination, a voting rights firestorm in Dallas, and the most costly Senate primary in American history all collided in a single evening.
Here’s the core of it: John Cornyn and Ken Paxton are headed to a runoff for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, with Cornyn pulling 43% and Paxton north of 40% when roughly 59% of precincts had reported. On the Democratic side, James Talarico held a lead over Jasmine Crockett — 53% to her roughly 47% — though those numbers carried an asterisk the size of Dallas County itself. The runoff between Cornyn and Paxton is set for May 26.
The Most Expensive Senate Primary in U.S. History
More than $110 million was poured into advertising for these Texas Senate primaries alone — a figure that makes it the most expensive Senate primary contest in the nation’s history, documented by multiple outlets tracking the race. That’s not a typo. One hundred and ten million dollars. In a primary.
The sheer scale of that spending reflects just how much is riding on this seat — and how badly both the establishment Republican wing and the MAGA-aligned faction want to control the outcome. Cornyn, the incumbent, has the institutional weight. Paxton, the embattled former attorney general, has the fervor. Neither could close the deal Tuesday night.
Democrats Make Noise — But Dallas County Complicated Everything
On the Democratic side, Gina Hinojosa secured the party’s gubernatorial nomination, with the Associated Press calling the race, confirmed by the Texas Tribune’s results tracker. That’s a clean win. The Senate race, though? Much messier.
Talarico’s lead over Crockett was real, but it came with a significant caveat: Dallas County — a Democratic stronghold — was effectively excluded from the count at the time those numbers were reported. And Dallas County’s exclusion wasn’t accidental. It was the product of a chaotic, contested, and deeply contentious day at the polls.
What happened? Dallas County Republicans chose to implement precinct-specific voting locations for Election Day — a departure from the countywide voting model that Dallas voters had long grown used to. Under state law, that forced the local Democratic Party to follow suit. Voters showed up to the wrong precincts. People were turned away. Confusion spread.
Crockett didn’t mince words. “I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised,” she said during the evening, and then released a fuller statement that laid out her case in detail: “The Dallas County Republicans and Williamson County GOP chose to implement precinct-specific voting locations for election day. Under state law, this forced the local Democratic parties to follow suit against our will. Both Dallas and Williamson county voters have grown accustomed to countywide voting, including on election day. This effort to suppress the vote, to confuse and inconvenience voters is having its intended effect as people are being turned away from the polls.”
She urged voters not to quit — “Do not give up and do not give in” — and called on Texans to “outvote the Republicans and kick them out of office.” It was a rallying cry and a legal warning shot wrapped into one statement.
Courts Step In — Then Step Back
A Dallas County judge ordered polling locations to remain open until 9 p.m., an hour past the standard closing time, in an attempt to accommodate voters affected by the confusion. The Texas Supreme Court blocked that order. Votes cast after 7 p.m. — unless the voter was already in line — would not count, the court ruled.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office, for its part, issued a statement that was careful to redirect responsibility: “The polling location data in this portal is maintained by the counties, not the Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Dallas County identified issues with their polling location data, and our office has been working with Dallas County to address these issues.” Whether that explanation satisfies anyone remains to be seen.
Turnout Tells Its Own Story
Still, amid the chaos, something notable was happening beneath the surface. Democrats outpaced Republicans in early voting statewide — a reversal of the pattern many expected — with roughly 2.5 million Texans casting early ballots. Dallas County Democrats alone set a record, with nearly 188,000 early votes counted before Election Day even arrived.
That’s not nothing. Democratic turnout in the 2026 primary exceeded 2024 levels, tracked by the Tribune’s election results portal, a signal that enthusiasm on the left — whatever its cause — is measurably up. Mail-in ballots could still shift close races before the March 15 certification deadline.
Down-Ballot: Courts, Runoffs, and Quiet Victories
The judicial races drew less oxygen but produced clear results. On the Democratic side, Maggie Ellis defeated Cory Carlyle for Texas Supreme Court chief justice, and Kristen Hawkins beat Gordon Goodman for Place 7. Republicans, meanwhile, saw their Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Place 3 race — between Alison Fox and Thomas Smith — head to a runoff, while John Messinger claimed Place 9 over Jenifer Balido.
These races don’t generate the same headlines as a Senate showdown, but they shape the legal architecture of a state where courts have played an outsized role in recent years — on abortion, on voting rights, and on the very kind of Election Day disputes that defined Tuesday night.
What Comes Next
The Cornyn-Paxton runoff on May 26 sets up what could be a defining test of the Republican Party’s internal identity in one of its most important states. Is it the institutionalist wing, or the insurgent one? Texas, as usual, will make that call loudly and expensively.
As for the Democratic Senate race, the final answer may depend on how many Dallas County votes ultimately get counted — and how aggressively Crockett’s campaign pursues the legal and political fallout from a night that she’s already characterized as voter suppression. Talarico’s lead is real. Whether it holds is another question entirely.
One hundred and ten million dollars, a blocked court order, a record-breaking early vote, and a Senate race that still isn’t settled. If Tuesday proved anything, it’s that in Texas, even the primary is a main event.
