US Senate candidates in Texas make final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A heated U.S. Senate race in Texas entered its final stretch on Sunday with candidates on both sides of the aisle making final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary, the nation’s first big contest of the 2026 midterm elections.

Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is trying to hold on to the seat he has held since first being elected in 2002, but finds himself in the toughest race of his long career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

“Complacency is a killer,” Cornyn told voters Saturday at a seafood restaurant in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. “It kills relationships. It kills careers.”

Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Texas since 1988, but they see an opening this year to help boost their long-shot hopes of recapturing a Senate majority, especially if Republicans nominate Paxton, who is popular with MAGA voters but has had years of legal problems.

On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico, a self-described policy wonk who emphasizes his crossover appeal to Republicans, faces U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rhetorical brawler on Capitol Hill who received a high-profile endorsement Friday from former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Candidates and political groups are pouring money into the race at a record pace, partly fueled by Talarico’s fundraising and allies of Cornyn trying to save his long career.

Heading into Tuesday’s primary elections, the cost of advertising and reserved advertising time had topped $110 million, the most ever for a Senate primary, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

A late visit to Texas on Friday by President Donald Trump, who used the Port of Corpus Christi as a backdrop for a speech highlighting energy production, drew all of the top Republican U.S. Senate candidates. And while Trump said Friday he’s “pretty much” decided whom to endorse, he declined to name who he’ll actually support.

“We have a great attorney general, Ken Paxton. Where’s Ken? Hi, Ken,” Trump said. He continued, “And we have a great senator, John Cornyn. Hi, John.”

Noting that they’re in a “little bit of a race,” Trump added: ’It’s going to be an interesting one, right? They’re both great people.”

Despite his long career in Texas politics, Paxton has painted himself as a Washington outsider and a staunch supporter of Trump.

“I’m not going up to Washington, D.C., to join the swamp club,” Paxton said at a campaign event in Fort Worth. “I will go up there and fight for you.”