Capitol Update

 Texas Primary Run-offs Conclude with a Bumpy Landing

The primary season is over as voters picked their party's nominees in several runoff elections across the state. The breakdown of each race is below:

Statewide
Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Cornyn was running for a fifth term in the U.S. Senate, and this ends a four-decade career in Texas politics. Paxton will face Democratic nominee James Talarico in the November election.

State Senator Mayes Middleton won the Republican nomination for Texas Attorney General and will face his fellow State Senator Nathan Johnson, who won the Democratic nomination in a runoff against Joe Jaworski, in the November election.

State Representative Vikki Goodwin won the Democratic nomination for Lt. Governor against Marco Velez in the runoff. Representative Goodwin will face Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in the General Election. Patrick is seeking his fourth term as Texas Lt. Governor.

Bo French, former Tarrant County GOP Chair, won the Republican nomination for Texas Railroad Commission. Commissioner Wright lost his re-election bid for a second term despite having the support of both Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick.

Texas House
In the Texas House, several open seats left by incumbents retiring or seeking higher office were determined after the runoff election:

• HD 41: Julio Salinas, former Capitol staffer and Bernie Sanders-backed candidate, won the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Bobby Guerra against Seby Haddad. Gary Groves, an advocate, won the Republican nomination against Sergio Sanchez, a former prosecutor. This is a district Democrats hope to maintain while Republicans hope to flip.
• HD 49: Montserrat Garibay, a bilingual educator, beat former Austin City Council member Kathie Tovo for the Democratic nomination to succeed Rep. Gina Hinojosa.
• HD 125: Adrian Reyna, a public-school teacher, beat Michelle Barrientes Vela, a former constable, for the Democratic nomination to replace Rep. Ray Lopez.
• HD 131: Staci Childs, a State Board of Education member, beat Lawrence Allen, Dr. Allen's son, in the race to succeed Rep. Alma Allen.
• HD 126: Stan Stanart won his race against Kelly Peterson, former District Director for Rep. Sam Harless, for the Republican nomination to replace Rep. Harless.

Democrats Venton Jones (HD 100) and Hubert Vo (HD 149) were the only incumbents to go into a runoff this primary cycle. Rep. Jones won his race with 84%, while Representative Vo lost to Darlene Breaux, an Alief ISD school board member, with 40%.

This increases the minimum number of new legislators to 25 for the 90th Texas Legislature. This does not include potential losses in the November General Election.

State Representatives Briscoe Cain and John Lujan lost their congressional bids for U.S. House of Representatives districts TX-9 and TX-35. Both lost to Trump-endorsed candidates Alex Mealer and Carlos De La Cruz, respectively. De La Cruz is the brother of Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (TX-15).


What's Next?
All eyes now turn to the November General Election. The last day to register to vote will be October 5, 2026. Early voting will run from October 19 through October 30, and Election Day is November 3.​