From the Texas battle for U.S. Senate to who’s running to be the state’s next governor, here are the key races — and candidates — to be watching as we head into 2026.
From the Texas battle for U.S. Senate to who’s running to be the state’s next governor, the ballot during the upcoming midterm election is full of key races and known candidates. The 2026 midterm elections are shaping up to be an unprecedented battle between Republicans and Democrats — due, in part, to a Now, voters in the Lone Star State have a clearer picture of what the heated months ahead will look like.
Monday evening marked the deadline for candidates to file to run in the March 2026 party primaries, where Texas voters choose who will be their party’s candidate in November. Beyond deciding who will represent Texas in the U.S. House, voters next year will also cast ballots for pivotal statewide offices from the governorship on down, plus every state House seat, 16 state Senate seats, and many, many more races. Now that the candidate filing window has closed, The Texas Newsroom is zooming in on which primaries are shaping up to be 2026’s most hotly contested.So far, the most talked about race in Texas seems to be for the U.S. Senate, a seat that Republican Sen. John Cornyn has held since 2002.On the Democratic side, the U.S. Senate contest saw a significant shakeup just hours before Monday’s filing deadline. That morning, Colin Allred of Dallasif he stayed in the race. Texas’ Democratic primary for U.S. Senate will now pair Crockett against James Talarico, a Texas House member from Austin Joshua Blank with the Texas Politics Project at UT-Austin said this may show that Democrats in the state have “the feeling that Attorney General Ken Paxton, and even current Senator John Cornyn, might be weak candidates…making a lot of Democrats consider this race as a viable political strategy.”this summer, could lead to the GOP gaining as many as five additional U.S. House seats from Texas in the 2026 midterm election.That includes in the Dallas area. While Colin Allred dropped out of the U.S. Senate race on Monday, he also announcedin the Democratic primary for Texas’ 33rd Congressional District. (Rep. Marc Veasey currently represents the district, but the Democrat was drawn out of it during this summer’s redistricting. Veasey has since announced he will, who currently represents Texas’ 32nd Congressional District. TX-32 was one of the Texas congressional districts that was redrawn to become majority Republican. Seven. Rep. Green will now be running Texas’ 18th Congressional District, which includes many of his former district’s voters. He’ll be facing off against newcomer Gretchen Brown in the Democratic primary. Green’s former seat representing Texas’ 9th Congressional District now leans heavily Republican — leading to another crowded GOP primary. There will be eight Republicans in the race, including Texas House Rep. Briscoe Cain of Deer Park, whois on the ballot — leading to a wide open field and crowded primaries on each side of the aisle. Nationally, there are a record number of congressional lawmakers who'veU.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who currently represents Texas’ 21st Congressional District, is one of them (The Republican has instead opted toThe race to be Texas’ next governor and other statewide contestsNear the top on the ticket is the race for governor. On the Republican side, Gov. Greg Abbott announced last month that he was runningin March’s primary, as an incumbent with a strong campaign war chest, it’s expected Abbott will easily win and be on the ballot in November. Who he’ll be challenging will be decided in the Democratic primary, but the highest profile candidates in the race arehas also drawn attention since Paxton declared his intention to challenge Cornyn for U.S. Senate. Besides the aforementioned Rep. Chip Roy, three other Republicans are on the March primary ballot: state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston, state Sen. Joan Huffman of Houston, and Aaron Reitz, a former assistant attorney general. Voters next year will also cast ballots for Lt. Gov — where incumbent Republican Dan Patrick is favored to win — Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of General Land Office, Commissioner of Agriculture Texas, Railroad Commissioner Texas and four vacant seats on the Supreme Court of Texas and three on the Court of Criminal Appeals spots open, plus a variety of local officials.
Abbott Allred Cornyn Crockett Paxton Talarico Texas Senate Race Texas Primaries Congressional Map
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