Summary
Closing summary
Our live coverage of the March 2026 midterm primary elections is ending now. In the meantime, you can find all of our live US politics coverage here. Here is a summary of the key developments from today:
Voters headed to the polls for primary elections in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas.
In North Carolina, former Democratic governor Roy Cooper and ex-Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley each won their party’s US Senate nominations.
Texas Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton will advance to a primary runoff election for the open Senate seat on May 26. With 60% of votes counted in their races, the Associated Press reports Cornyn receiving 42.9% of the vote to Paxton’s 40.5%. Because neither candidate hit the 50% of the vote required to outwright win, the race will proceed to a runoff.
Texas governor Greg Abbott won a record fourth nomination by the Republican party in his quest for reelection – an expected result as the incumbent facing no serious competition this primary.
Texas’ Democratic primary between James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett is unlikely to be determined tonight, after voter confusion sparked a court battle. After the county Republican party refused to hold joint primaries with the Democrats, voters were rerouted to assigned precincts rather than the countywide polling locations they typically use. The confusion prompted a court to allow polls to remain open late in Dallas and Williamson counties, but state attorney general Ken Paxton appealed the Dallas county ruling to the state supreme court.
Ken Paxton railed against Senate leadership, including his opponent John Cornyn, who he will face in a May runoff election, in a speech to supporters this evening.
“We just sent a message, loud and clear, to Washington,” he said. “We are not going to go quietly, and we are not going to let you buy the seat.” His comments appeared to reference Cornyn’s campaign and allied super PACS, which spent more than $68 million on television ads since October.
“We proved something they’ll never understand in Washington,” Paxton said. “Texas is not for sale.”
Updated
Jasmine Crockett plans to sue after Texas voting rule changes spark confusion at polls
Jasmine Crockett plans to file a lawsuit over voter confusion that prompted a court battle in her home county.
Her spokesperson, Karrol Rimal, confirmed plans to file a lawsuit to the Associated Press but did not have details.
Updated
As we await results in Texas’s Democratic Senate primary – which may not be decided tonight after confusion at the polls sparked a court battle – the Associated Press has called a handful of other Democratic races in the state.
Gina Hinojosa is the Democratic nominee for governor – although she is unlikely to win the general election against incumbent Greg Abbott. No Democrat has won the state’s governorship since 1990.
Frederick Haynes is the Democratic nominee for the 30th district.
Latin music star Bobby Pulido is the party’s nominee for the 15th district.
Rhonda Hart won the nomination in the 36th district.
Laura Jones is the nominee for the 8th district.
John Cornyn promised a heated runoff against Ken Paxton, who he said would be “a dead weight at the top of the ticket for Republicans” after neither candidate won enough of the vote to win the Republican Senate primary outright.
“I refuse to allow a flawed, self-centered and shameless candidate like Ken Paxton risk everything we’ve worked so hard to build over these many years,” he told reporters. “There is simply too much at stake in this midterm election for our state and for our country.”
“The final two years of President Trump’s agenda hangs in the balance,” he added.
The voter confusion at the heart of this evening’s legal back-and-forth stems from a change to the voting rules that resulted in hundreds of people being turned away at the polls in Dallas County.
That was because the county Republican party refused to hold joint primaries with the Democrats, which prompted voters to be rerouted to assigned precincts rather than the countywide polling locations they typically use.
In one telling example, VoteBeat spoke to a woman who had walked 2.5 miles to cast her ballot, only to be told that she was in the wrong location.
“I walked up here because I want to vote so, so bad,” she told a reporter for the Dallas Free Press and Votebeat, adding that it felt like “your self-esteem and everything is torn down.”
It was unclear if the Democratic Senate primary race would be called on Tuesday night, after the state Supreme Court intervened and halted a judge’s order extending voting hours in two key counties.
Jasmine Crockett already came out at her election night party told her supporters that they would not know the results this evening and suggested Republicans were intentionally trying to suppress the vote in her home base of Dallas county.
“Unfortunately, this is what Republicans like to do,” Crockett said. “They specifically targeted Dallas county and I think we all know why.”
Ken Paxton, the hard-right attorney general and a Republican candidate for Senate, filed the emergency petition to strike down the extension.
At James Talarico’s election night party in Austin, some supporters are beginning to trickle out - unclear of what to expect this evening. We still haven’t heard anything from the Talarico campaign as of 10pm local time.
Texas Republican Senate primary will advance to a runoff
Texas Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton will advance to a primary runoff election for the open Senate seat this May.
With 60% of votes counted in their races, the Associated Press reports Cornyn receiving 42.9% of the vote to Paxton’s 40.5%. Because neither candidate hit the 50% of the vote required to outwright win, the race will proceed to a runoff.
Cornyn is seeking his fifth term for a seat he has held since 2002, while current Texas attorney general Paxton has mounted a fierece bid to replace him.
My colleague Lauren Gambino has more on the race:
Updated
The Texas state supreme court has ordered ballots cast in Dallas county after the 7pm CT close of polls be separated out from other ballots, following an appeal of a lower court’s ruling by state attorney general Ken Paxton.
It is unclear whether Paxton will pursue a similar ruling in Williamson county, where polls were similarly allowed to stay open late following voter confusion – or if those ballots will be counted.
At her watch party, congresswoman Jasmine Crockett said she doesn’t expect results in the Democratic Senate primary tonight.
“I want you to enjoy yourselves, but I won’t be back tonight because I have no idea of when we’re going to get results,” she said. “I can tell you, people were disenfranchised.”
The Associated Press has called more results in North Carolina’s congressional primaries.
Richard Ojeda won the 9th district’s Democratic nomination.
Laurie Buckhout is the Republican nominee for the state’s 1st district.
Raymond Smith won the 3rd district’s Democratic nomination.
Cyril Jefferson is the Democratic nominee in the state’s 6th district.
While Texas has counted nearly 60% of votes across both its Democratic and Republican primaries, we don’t expect to know the results of the Democratic Senate primary until late this evening as polls in candidate Jasmine Crockett’s home district stayed open late following voter confusion.
My colleague Lauren Gambino reports more on the heated race unfolding there:
As polls began to close across Texas on Tuesday evening, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and state representative James Talarico were locked in a fiercely contested and unpredictable primary that has drawn record-level turnout and outsized national attention.
The marquee Senate race, unfolding in a state Democrats have not carried statewide in more than three decades, has become an early test of competing political playbooks for challenging Republican dominance – and Donald Trump. In the final weeks, the race has raised fraught questions about race, identity and electability for a party searching for a path back to power in Washington.
Polls have closed in Texas, including in counties where Democratic voters were allowed to cast their ballots until 10pm ET, and the Associated Press is beginning to call the results of a handful of House Republican primaries there.
So far:
Brian Babin has won the Republican nomination for Texas’ 36th district.
Randy Weber is the Republican nominee for Texas’ 14th district.
Keith Self is the Republican nominee for Texas’ 3rd district.
Michael Cloud is the Republican nominee for Texas’ 27th district.
Tano Tijerina won the Republican nomination for Texas’ 28th district.
Texas governor Greg Abbott has won a record fourth nomination by the Republican party in his quest for reelection – an expected result as the incumbent facing no serious competition this primary.
Abbott was first elected in 2014. His predecessor, Rick Perry, was the first Texas governor elected to three consecutive four-year terms. If Abbott is relected in the general election this November – as seems likely – he will achieve a record four back-to-back terms as Texas governor.
Updated
The Talarico campaign is feeling confident. Early indications suggest the candidate is performing well with Hispanic voters, seen as a critical swing bloc. He currently leads Crockett by more than Webb County, which is 95% Hispanic. He is also ahead by 29 percentage points in Cameron county, where Hispanic voters make up a majority.
The votes are still coming in, and the polls in Dallas remain open. But the crowd is buzzing and excitement is building as we inch towards polls closing across the state.
From the press table in the back, I saw one Talarico campaign staffer grin big as he shared a tweet projecting strong favorability for the candidate to win.
Confusion at Texas polls as state supreme court blocks earlier ruling that extended voting deadline
While Democratic polling locations remained open late in three counties across Texas after confusion over polling locations, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked an earlier judge order allowing polls to remain open until 10pm ET in Dallas County.
Polls were allowed to stay open late in Dallas, Willamson and El Paso counties. But according to the Texas Tribune, the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower judge’s order to keep Dallas county polls open late after attorney general Ken Paxton appealed the ruling.
As we reported earlier, some voters in Dallas and Willliamson counties were turned away at polling locations and directed to different voting precincts, causing confusion and frustration. El Paso county extended its voting hours due to a problem with the county’s check-in system.
Updated
The Associated Press has called the results in a handful of tonight’s elections. Here are the outcomes:
Voters have selected Jack Codiga as the Republican nominee in North Carolina’s 12th district.
Brad Knott is the Republican nominee in North Carolina’s 13th district.
Jamie Ager is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina’s 11th district.
Chuck Hubbard is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina’s 5th district.
Ashley Bell is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina’s 10th district.
And Coly Watson is the Democratic nominee in North Carolina’s 8th district.
Updated
North Carolina voters pick their Republican and Democratic US Senate candidates
More results are coming in from North Carolina’s primary races.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and ex-Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley each won their party’s US Senate nominations in North Carolina. The results of their forthcoming fall campaign could determine control of the chamber.
And Representative Tim Moore has won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District.
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Republican Brandon Gill has won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Texas’ 26th Congressional District.
In November, he faced scrutiny for saying that the US has “imported Islamic terrorism in just the last few decades through our suicidal immigration system”.
“It was a policy choice. The reality is that not all cultures are morally equal. Islam is incompatible with our culture and our governing system. Radical Islamists seek to fundamentally destroy our way of life,” Gill said. “Why would we allow them to immigrate here? Islamic ideology has no place in the West, and it’s time our immigration system recognizes this.”
And in early-February he called for a moratorium on people from Somalia immigrating to the US.
Following a court order that will keep voting polls in Dallas County open until 9 pm local time, Representative Jasmine Crockett told reporters that she is “grateful for this court order.”
We should all be standing together. Democrats, Republicans and we should all be raising hell. But unfortunately this was always the plan… I am grateful for this court order. And as congressman Allred already stated, we encourage each and every one of you to remain resilient. We cannot allow this type of behavior to be rewarded because as long as they know that they can win even it means cheating then they will continue to do it.
So I am asking you, I am begging you to make sure that you go ahead and figure out where you’re supposed to vote, stand in line, wait in line and if it means I’ve gotta come out there with you to wait with you I would do that.”
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Journalist Jimmy Ryals spoke to North Carolina voters casting their ballots in Beaufort County at Chocowinity Fire Station 62 about their concerns around affordability and the economy.
While her husband raised concerns about immigration and LGBTQ issues, Lisa Grubbs, a registered Republican, said her biggest concerns are healthcare and affordability. “I think they (the federal government) could have done something a little bit different with some of the things they cut, like Medicaid. There are people who are on fixed incomes. There are people just getting by. The price of living goes up, but their income is not going up. And I think they need to do something better with helping people in the United States who have problems like that. Not everybody can be rich.”
Kelly Burke, an unaffiliated voter who voted in the Democratic primary, said the economy was his chief concern.
“The economic issues become very severe because we’re dealing with a fixed income. That’s the biggest thing to me,” he said. “Second is the instability and vulnerability that we have in this divided political climate. The unpredictability of the current situation is untenable. We can’t wait for the midterms and can’t wait for the next three years (of Trump’s term) to pass.”
Updated
My colleague Lauren Gambino is reporting live from Austin tonight, where she’s spoken with voters about Texas’s congressional and gubernatorial primaries:
Julia Berliner, a PhD student in ecology at UT, was torn between the Democratic candidates for Senate. She called Crockett a “voice of reason” who always “speaks the truth compellingly”. But she’d also seen commentary online that suggested Talarico had a better chance of flipping the seat.
Republicans have been spending money to boost Crockett in the race, betting that she is a more polarizing figure who would help mobilize their voters to turn out in November.
Having grown up in a more liberal community in New York, Berliner wrestled with the question of “what works in Texas” – a state that not elected a Democratic senator in her lifetime.
“I don’t want to betray any chance of flipping Texas,” she said, as the line to vote inched forward.
When she finally reached the voting booth, Berliner said she decided to cast her ballot for Crockett. “She’s ultimately the candidate I’m excited about [and] would be proud to have represent me,” Berliner said by text afterward.
Top of mind for Berliner was reproductive rights. Texas bans virtually all abortions in the state, and the state’s Republican-dominated legislature approved legislation last year that targets providers who distribute or mail abortion medication to or from the nation’s second largest state.
It’s personal for Berliner, who at 27 has at least four more years in her PhD program. She says she would like to have children one day but said she does not feel safe getting pregnant in a state like Texas, where women have died after not receiving medically necessary abortions. “I worry I wouldn’t have access to the healthcare I might need,” she said, adding: “I just wouldn’t feel safe here.”
Other students were worried about the Trump administration’s massive cuts to research funding and grant programs. Siva Epuri, a pre-medical student studying public health, said the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts could be felt on campus.
Updated
Polls have closed in Arkansas, where we are awaiting the results of the first of three state primaries happening tonight.
Republicans are likely to win in the deep red state – where US senator Tom Cotton and governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders are seeking reelection.
Dallas County polls will remain open until 9pm local time – 10pm ET – following voter confusion, the Austin American-Statesman reports, citing county judge Clay Jenkins.
Jenkins told reporters that up to 90% of Dallas County voters were rerouted to different locations, following new rules requested by the local Republican party requiring voters to cast ballots at their assigned precinct only, rather than any polling site in the county.
The Guardian does not make its own election calls – instead, we rely on the Associated Press’ election desk, which makes projections based on available data and analysis.
In the AP’s own words:
In almost all cases, races can be called well before all votes have been counted. The AP’s team of election journalists and analysts will call a race as soon as a clear winner can be determined.
In competitive races, AP analysts may need to wait until additional votes are tallied or to confirm specific information about how many ballots are left to count.
Competitive races in which votes are actively being tabulated — for example, in states that count a large number of votes after election night — might be considered “too early to call.” A race may be “too close to call” if a race is so close that there’s no clear winner even once all ballots except for provisional and late-arriving absentee ballots have been counted.
The AP’s race calls are not predictions and are not based on speculation. They are declarations based on an analysis of vote results and other election data that one candidate has emerged as the winner and that no other candidate in the race will be able to overtake the winner once all the votes have been counted.
People in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas are voting in the first primaries of the 2026 midterm election cycle.
Polls are expected to close at 7.30pm ET in Arkansas. Given the delay in North Carolina, last polls now close there at 8.30pm ET. And the last polls in Texas will now close at 10pm ET, after confusion in Dallas led to extended hours in that county.
Updated
What about Arkansas?
Arkansas has primary elections tonight too, however, this deep red state does not expect to offer much in terms of tight races or surprise outcomes.
Republican incumbents, including US senator Tom Cotton and governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, are heavy favorites to win their primaries. Cotton is seeking his third term and the governor is running unopposed.
The Associated Press notes that Arkansas hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 2010, and Sanders and Cotton will be heavy favorites to win re-election in November.
Some voters turned away in two major Texas counties due to rule changes
Some voters in two major Texas counties are being turned away at polling locations and directed to different voting precincts, causing confusion and frustration, the Associated Press reported. The problems were hitting voters in Dallas and Williamson counties, which includes the suburbs north of Austin.
“We’re seeing a lot of people that are going to their vote centers that they usually go to ... and not realizing they can’t do that anymore. They have to go to their precinct-based location,” Nic Solorzano, a spokesperson for the Dallas County Elections Department, told the AP.
Voters have been allowed to cast their ballot anywhere in their respective county since 2019. But for this primary, Republicans in both counties opted against this. And because both major parties have to agree on how to conduct the primary, the decision affects all voters.
North Carolina election results will be delayed due to tech issues in one county
North Carolina’s election results will be delayed at least an hour because a rural county will be open late after workers couldn’t get equipment working earlier in the day.
In Halifax county, the electronic poll books synchronized for 90 minutes and didn’t use any backup measures to let people vote, according to notes from an emergency meeting held by the state’s board of elections.
Election officials said counties can go ahead and count votes when their polls close and report the results internally to the state, the Associated Press reported. But the state isn’t releasing vote totals publicly until 8.30 pm, when the Halifax county precinct closes.
Journalist Jimmy Ryals spoke to several North Carolina voters about how the recent US attack on Iran affected their decision as they head to polls in Nash county at Bailey Baptist Church.
Here’s what they said:
Brenda Patterson is an unaffiliated voter but participated in the Republican primary. The fighting in Iran is on her mind. She opposes US involvement, but it didn’t affect her voting choices. More important, she says, are improving the economy and “getting over some of the riots that are happening in some of these cities.”
“I don’t like war at all,” she said. “We’d been independent on oil for a while, but all of a sudden (domestic) pipelines are closed, and now we’re going back to getting oil and stuff from the Middle East.”
Angela Iwaniuk is a registered Democrat for primaries “but when it comes to the real thing, I vote for who I think will be the best.” Iran was not a significant factor in her voting choices, although it does concern her. She has friends on a tour of Israel who can’t get home now.
“I hate that it’s happening,” she said. “But I think it’s a good thing that we’re doing what we’re doing. I’m in favor of it.”
Nancy Stone, of Wilson, North Carolina, is an unaffiliated voter in the Republican primary. She is following what’s happening in Iran and favors US actions alongside Israel, but she says it didn’t affect her vote.
Yamilka Almeyda of Greenville, North Carolina, is a registered Democrat. For Almeyda, a pediatrician, healthcare is the most important issue facing the country and Iran detracts from it.
“I’ve been here for 18 years and never seen a situation like what we’re facing,” she said. “I feel like Iran is a distraction from our internal problems. I think this war is unnecessary.”
Updated
At the heart of one North Carolina primary race: datacenter politics
A North Carolina congressional primary on Tuesday is an early test of datacenter politics – a fight increasingly shaping elections nationwide.
In the Durham-area fourth district, congresswoman Valerie Foushee is seeking her third term against progressive challenger Nida Allam, a Durham county commissioner she defeated in 2022.
The heated rematch comes against the backdrop of a major datacenter battle in the district. Allam has come out staunchly against a massive new proposed facility, and is supporting a federal datacenter moratorium. Foushee, meanwhile, said she does not personally support the new development, but that datacenter decisions should be left to local leaders, not federal ones.
In North Carolina, all eyes on key Senate and House races
The marquee matchup for the open US Senate seat in North Carolina will begin to resolve into focus Tuesday, with a well-known former Democratic governor and a Donald Trump-endorsed but untested Republican appearing to lead the field.
In the Democratic primary, former two-term governor Roy Cooper is ahead in recent polling against the slate of other candidates who have never held elected office. Cooper is widely seen among North Carolina’s Democrats as their best chance at flipping a Republican-controlled seat, now held by retiring US senator Thom Tillis, a conservative who has turned hard against the Trump administration on its handling of healthcare, defense and the Epstein file disclosures.
For Republicans, Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair, leads the field in polling, with his closest competitor, representative Don Brown, in the single digits.
Polling in both primaries has been relatively scant and may have masked softness in conservative support for Whatley. About half of the Republican electorate remains undecided as they head to the polls.
I’m in Austin, where later tonight James Talarico’s campaign will hold its election night event.
The evening will cap a remarkable rise to national prominence for Texas state representative Talarico, who launched a Senate bid promising a “new kind of politics” that roots progressive policy in his Christian faith.
A 36-year-old former school teacher and seminary student, Talarico first splashed onto the national political stage during a walkout last year, when Democratic lawmakers fled the state to delay a Republican gerrymander sought by Donald Trump.
He is seen as the underdog in the primary race against congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a progressive firebrand beloved by the anti-Trump resistance.
More than anything, the race is a test of style, personality and playbooks. The Democrats broadly agree on policy – and both will face an uphill battle to win the general election in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994.
Polling diverges for Texas Democrats as Crockett loses early lead in closing weeks
House representative Jasmine Crockett enjoyed an early lead in the Democratic race, with polls showing the congresswoman comfortably ahead of state representative James Talarico. But in the final weeks, as early voting got underway and Talarico enjoyed a boost in fundraising after a pulled appearance on the “Late Night With Stephen Colbert” went viral online, polls have diverged significantly. Some show Talarico leaping ahead of Crockett, while others show her firmly in first place.
One constant, however, is that Crockett draws overwhelming support from Black Democrats, while Talarico has consistently led among white liberals.
The outcome will likely be decided by Latino voters, who are expected to account for a quarter to one-third of the Democratic primary electorate.
Early voting shows sky-high enthusiasm on the Democratic side, with record-breaking turnout. At a polling station on the University of Texas campus in Austin, the line snaked through the student union building and out the door. Campaign signs for Crockett – Texas Tough – and Talarico lined a central campus thoroughway.
A poll worker announced that the wait was over 50 minutes. She directed anyone who’d rather not wait in the midday heat to take a free shuttle to another voting center with a shorter wait time.
Updated
Texas voters are casting ballots for a slate of other federal, state and local offices.
As a result of redistricting, two sitting members of Congress are squaring off in the primary for congressional district 18, in what has become a referendum on generational change.
Among Democrats, representative Christian Menefee, 37, who is just weeks into his first term, is now facing off against representative Al Green, 78, who has served for more than two decades.
On the Republican side, representative Dan Crenshaw is potentially vulnerable to a right-wing challenge from state representative Steve Toth in the second congressional district while congressman Tony Gonzales is facing calls for his resignation from fellow Republicans after allegations of an affair with a former staffer who later killed herself. He has resisted calls to resign.
What to know about the Texas Democratic Senate primary
On the Democratic side of the Texas Senate primary, two rising stars in the party are going head to head with completely different playbooks.
US House representative Jasmine Crockett, the Associated Press notes, has made a name for herself through confrontation. She is a fierce critic of president Donald Trump. My colleague Lauren Gambino writes, “Casting herself as a ‘proven fighter’ who ‘drives the president crazy’, Crockett contends that high turnout among young voters and voters of color – not ideological moderation – is the key to winning statewide.”
Competing against her is Texas state representative James Talarico. While he might not have clout in Washington, he has surged in the latest polls off his moderate, God-loving approach that could work specifically in a state like Texas. Lauren writes that he has “crisscrossed the deep-red counties that voted for Trump, preaching a ‘politics of love’ that roots progressive policy in the teachings of his Christian faith. The 36-year-old former middle school teacher and current seminary student argues that the central divide in American politics is ‘not left v right’ but ‘top v bottom’ and says Democrats can rebuild trust in rural and suburban communities without abandoning their core values.”
Talarico received more national attention after CBS’ parent company Paramount refused to show his interview on the Stephen Colbert show. A poll from Emerson College released Sunday shows Talarico with a five-point lead over Crockett.
It’s important to note that Texas has not elected a Democrat to the US Senate seat since 1988. Whoever wins the primary will still face a steep uphill battle to victory in November (just ask Beto O’Rourke).
What to know about the Texas Republican Senate primary
Let’s start with perhaps the biggest race of the night: the Texas Republican Senate primary.
The Texas Senate primary has become the most expensive ad campaign on record, according to analysis firm AdImpact, with the GOP establishment candidate’s campaign spending at least $69m of the $122m (this includes both parties). President Donald Trump has, notably, not endorsed a candidate in this race.
US senator John Cornyn is seeking his fifth term for a seat he has held since 2002. Cornyn serves on several Senate committees and was formerly the party’s whip in Washington until 2019. He has been defending himself throughout this campaign as being aligned with the president, but he may be viewed as less-aligned than at least one of his challengers.
Ken Paxton, the Texas state attorney general, is running a fierce campaign against the incumbent senator despite a history of scandals, both political and personal. Paxton has made a name for himself for spearheading conservatives’ legal battles, including trying to overturn the 2020 election results, expanding religion in schools, and partnering with the Trump administration to facilitate deportations. Polling has recently shown Paxton with a narrow lead.
And then there’s House Republican Wesley Hunt, a two-term congressman who may act as more of a divider-of-votes than having an actual chance to win the race. There is a chance he is a second-place finisher.
That said, if no candidate wins a majority, or more than 50%, the top two candidates advance to a primary runoff on 26 May.
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2026 midterm primaries begin with key races in Texas and North Carolina
Welcome to the start of the 2026 US midterms. Primary elections kick off in three states – Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas – and many seats are at stake, including candidacies for the US House and US Senate.
Tuesday’s results will determine who is on the ballot in November in these states. Voters are heading to the polls to select who they want to represent their registered party. There are dozens of elections, but Guardian is specifically watching a handful of races closely:
In Texas, longtime Republican senator John Cornyn is fighting to retain his seat against two challengers: state attorney general Ken Paxton and US representative Wesley Hunt. Paxton, a conservative firebrand who has surged in recent polls, could reveal to the Republican party just how potent the Maga brand is.
The Texas Democratic primary for US Senate is between US representative Jasmine Crockett and state representative James Talarico, a race that is seen as a strategic divide – their campaign styles could not be more different.
North Carolina’s primaries could prove crucial to Democrats come November, as Republican senator Thom Tillis is retiring and they believe this is a major chance to flip a seat in the chamber. On the Democrats’ side, former two-term governor Roy Cooper is ahead in recent polling. Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair, leads the Republican field.
And while president Donald Trump is not on the ballot tonight or in November, these elections will be used as a bellwether for his policies and how voters have viewd the first year of his second term.
Right now, Republicans hold the House, the Senate and the presidency. Will US voters look to retain the status quo or change course? Stick with us as we take you through election night.
