Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas led the country as the first states to hold 2026 primaries on Tuesday, with the results showing some tough outcomes for incumbent candidates.
In Texas, the results that trickled in left Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) set to face a runoff election with state Attorney General Ken Paxton, as neither candidate reached the 50% vote threshold. It’s a scenario the senator had studiously hoped to avoid and could force President Donald Trump into making an endorsement ahead of the May 26 runoff date. On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico locked down the nomination by defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), after running one of the most closely watched campaigns nationwide. The outcome also marked a blow to former Vice President Kamala Harris’s endorsement powers, as she had backed Crockett in the Senate race.
Texas: Incumbents rocked
Talarico has already become the GOP’s new bogeyman, as the party fights to keep the faith-based progressive from flipping Cornyn’s seat blue.
“Texas’ already-radical Democrat Party nominated the race’s most leftist radical,” former Trump White House official Taylor Budowich told Politico. “Talarico is a far-left liberal. This is still Texas. Good luck!” another GOP operative said.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) is facing a runoff election against Brandon Herrera after his campaign reckoned with allegations of sexual impropriety. Gonzales had denied any wrongdoing after he was accused of having an affair with a staffer who later took her life, but had faced calls to step aside from fellow Republicans, including Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX), Brandon Gill (R-TX), and Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) fell from power, facing a crushing primary defeat at the hands of Steve Toth by a margin of 56% to 40%.
Rep. Julie Johnson (D-TX) is headed into a runoff with former Rep. Colin Allred in Texas’s 33rd Congressional District, which is considered safe Democratic territory for the party in the general election. Latin Grammy award-winning Tejano music star Bobby Pulido won the Democratic primary against Ada Cuellar by a wide margin, as he seeks to flip the seat red in the November election. Pulido is set to face an uphill battle in seeking to oust Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), who secured the GOP’s nomination Tuesday after running unopposed in the primary.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX), 79, appears likely to be headed to another runoff election with Rep. Christian Menefee (D-TX), 37, in Houston’s 18th Congressional District, with the race highlighting the generational divide. The two Democrats were forced into the showdown after the Texas GOP successfully led redistricting efforts that resulted in a new political map, leaving the lines of Green’s district significantly altered.
North Carolina: State Senate leader race tied
In North Carolina, the leader of the North Carolina Senate, Phil Berger, and his GOP primary challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, are in a virtual tie, with the race remaining too close to call. Unofficial results show Page leading by two votes, according to the News & Observer.
Another incumbent, this one a Democrat, had a tough night. The race between Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) and progressive challenger Nida Allam also remains too close to call. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount. As of Tuesday morning, Foushee holds a narrow lead of around 1,200 votes, with 1,300 left to be tabulated, according to the Associated Press.
As expected, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley easily took the primary victory in North Carolina’s Senate race, setting him up for a showdown with former Gov. Roy Cooper, who won his party’s primary with over 92%.
Arkansas: Democrat flips state House seat
In Arkansas, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) took nearly 82% of the vote, as he is expected to clinch a third term in the deep-red state easily. Cotton will face Democrat Hallie Shoffner, who won her party’s Tuesday primary with over 78% of the vote, in November.
Democrats secured a win in a state House race, as Alex Holladay won a special election against Republican Bo Renshaw in District 70. The victory flipped the seat blue, though it does not change control of the state’s lower legislative chamber, where Republicans have held an 80-19 majority.
JAMES TALARICO OFFERS DEMOCRATS A VISION OF FAITH THAT FITS THE LEFT
Democrats enjoy high turnout
Texas Democrats turned out in unusually high numbers during early voting, including 400,000 people who had never before voted in a Democratic primary, according to early voting data obtained by the New York Times and analyzed by Derek Ryan, a Republican political consultant. More than one in four voters who cast an early ballot in the Democratic primary had only voted in a general election before.
The Democratic turnout in the Texas primaries outpacing the GOP is a “code red alert for Texas Republicans,” pollster Ross Hunt said in a Sunday memo shared with the Hill, signaling Republicans “will need to do everything right this fall.”