U.S. Senate Control

A Fox News report details an increasingly bitter Texas Republican Senate primary in which incumbent Sen. John Cornyn faces challenges from state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, while Democrats line up James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett for November. Democratic strategist Eric Koch argues Paxton, buoyed by his 'MAGA' profile and a narrow polling edge over Cornyn in an Emerson College survey, would present a stark contrast against Talarico as a 'fresh face' versus a 'career politician with a long history of corruption.' Hunt, an Army veteran in his second House term, is attacking Cornyn as out of touch, accusing him of hiding from debates and relying on a Trump endorsement that Hunt claims 'is not coming.' With Paxton leading at 27% to Cornyn’s 26% and 29% of GOP voters still undecided, Democrats see a rare opening to flip a Texas seat that has been reliably Republican for more than three decades, a change that could be pivotal to Senate control. The intra‑GOP fight also underscores broader Republican tensions between establishment figures and Trump‑aligned candidates in key 2026 races.