DALLAS (AP) — Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn is trying to hold on for a fifth term in Tuesday’s GOP primary, while Democrats will choose whether to send Rep. Jasmine Crockett or state Rep. James Talarico to a November general election where the party once again hopes it has a chance.
Texas is one of three states kicking off this year’s midterm elections, a slate of primaries that come as the U.S. and Israel are at war with Iran. The war, which began over the weekend, has killed at least six U.S. service members, spiraled into a regional confrontation as Iran retaliated and sent oil and natural gas prices soaring. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on an isolationist “America First” agenda and went to war without authorization from Congress, faces mounting questions over its rationale and an exit strategy.
Tuesday also is the final day of voting in North Carolina and Arkansas in primaries that mark the start of the 2026 midterms, as Democrats look to break the GOP’s hold on Washington and derail Trump.
Cornyn faces a challenge from MAGA favorite Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a contest that’s expected to advance to a May runoff between the top two vote-getters. The three Republicans have campaigned on their ties to Trump, who has not endorsed in the race.
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Crockett and Talarico each argue that they are the stronger general election candidate in a state that backed Trump by almost 14 percentage points in 2024 and where a Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race in over 30 years.
Voters also are choosing House candidates using new congressional district boundaries that GOP lawmakers — urged on by Trump — redrew to help elect more Republicans.
Cornyn fights to hold seat, Crockett and Talarico race for Democrats
Cornyn hopes to avoid becoming the first Republican senator in Texas history not to be renominated.
His cool relationship with Trump is part of why Cornyn is vulnerable. He and allied groups have spent $64 million in television advertising alone since July to try stabilize his support.
Paxton began campaigning in earnest only last month but has made national headlines for filing lawsuits against Democratic initiatives. He has remained popular in Texas despite a 2023 impeachment trial on corruption charges, of which he was acquitted, and accusations of marital infidelity by his wife.
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Senate GOP leaders, who are backing Cornyn, worry that Paxton’s liabilities would require the party to spend substantially to defend the seat if he is the nominee — money that could be better used elsewhere.
READ MORE: Lawsuit by Trump ally Paxton asserts unproven claim of autism risk from acetaminophen
Paxton has run ads touting his support from Turning Point USA, the group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Kirk’s praise for Paxton before he was assassinated in September.
Hunt’s entry into the race in October made it trickier for any primary candidate to win at least 50%, the threshold needed to avoid a May 26 runoff.
All three Republicans have run ads boasting of their coziness with Trump.
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On the Democratic side, the party’s first major contest of 2026 offers a choice between stylistic opposites as it hungers for its first Senate win in Texas since 1988.
Talarico, a seminarian who often references the Bible, has held rallies across the state including in heavily Republican areas. Crockett, who has built a national profile for zinger attacks on Republicans, has focused on turning out Black voters in the Dallas and Houston areas.
Talarico had outspent Crockett on television advertising by more than four to one as of late February. He got a burst of attention last month from CBS’ decision not to air his interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert. Colbert said the network pulled the interview for fear of running afoul of Trump’s FCC. Talarico’s campaign announced it raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after the interview — which was streamed online — was pulled from TV.
Key House primaries
Texas Republicans’ unusual, mid-decade redistricting was aimed at helping Trump’s party pick up five Democratic-held seats in an effort to avoid losing control of the House. It set up some intraparty conflicts between Democratic incumbents, and what are expected to be some of November’s most competitive races.
In the 34th District, former Rep. Mayra Flores is attempting a comeback. Flores made history in a 2022 special election as the first Republican to win in the Rio Grande Valley in 150 years, but she lost her bid for a full term later that year. She faces Eric Flores, a lawyer endorsed by Trump, for the nomination to run against Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez.
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In the 23rd District, Rep. Tony Gonzales is considered vulnerable after fellow Republicans called on him to resign over an affair with a staffer who killed herself. He is being challenged by gun manufacturer and YouTube influencer Brandon Herrera, who calls himself “the AK guy.” The district includes Uvalde, site of a deadly 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School.
Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw is challenged in the 2nd District by GOP state Rep. Steve Toth, who was endorsed by Sen. Ted Cruz.
Former Major League Baseball star Mark Teixeira is running in District 21, in southwest Texas, for the seat held by Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who is running for state attorney general. Teixeira, a Republican, played for four MLB teams, including the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees when they won the 2009 World Series.
Democrat Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy winner, is running in South Texas’ 15th District against physician Ada Cuellar. The nominee will face two-term Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz.
In the 33rd District, Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson faces former Rep. Colin Allred, a former NFL linebacker and 2024 Senate nominee. Johnson, a first-term congresswoman, is seen as vulnerable partly because Allred previously represented part of the district, which weaves through the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. He also retains a national fundraising network from his Senate campaign.
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And Democratic Rep. Al Green also is fighting to stay in office after his Houston-based 9th District was drawn to be lean Republican. Green, 78, is now running in a newly drawn 18th District against Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, 37, who won a January special election for the current 18th District. The new one includes two-thirds of Green’s old district.
Abbott and Hinojosa seem bound to face off for governor, while Roy seeks Paxton’s office
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is running for reelection and faces a likely matchup with Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.
Four-term U.S. Rep. Chip Roy is seeking the GOP nomination for state attorney general, with Paxton running for Senate. Roy has been a prominent member of the conservative Freedom Caucus.
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Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney joins Varney & Co. to discuss the departure of Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and to address questions about the company’s future leadership and strategy.
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.
Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.
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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.
NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’
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The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.
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Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.
NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)
Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”
The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.
Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.
The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.
The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.
Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.
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Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.
Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.
Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.
CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.
“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.
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The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.
US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to activate state emergency response resources as a massive storm system threatens much of the state with hurricane-force winds, giant hail, and the risk of tornadoes.
Severe weather in Texas
The severe weather, expected to last through Monday morning, covers a vast footprint including West, North, East, Central, and South-Central Texas. Forecasters warned the system could produce wind gusts exceeding 75 mph and hail larger than 2 inches in diameter.
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What they’re saying:
“Texas is prepared to confront the severe storms that pose a threat to communities all across our state,” Abbott said in a statement. He urged Texans to monitor local forecasts and warned motorists never to drive through flooded roadways, invoking the phrase, “Turn Around, Don’t Drown.”
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Heavy rainfall is expected to be widespread, with some areas potentially seeing isolated totals of 3 to 6 inches, which could lead to significant flash flooding. As the system progresses, the threat is expected to shift toward the South and Southeast Texas coasts.
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In preparation, the governor has deployed a wide array of state assets to assist local officials, including:
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Search and Rescue: Swiftwater and floodwater rescue boat squads and urban search and rescue teams from Texas A&M Task Forces 1, 2, and 3.
Aviation and Marine Support: Helicopters with hoist capabilities from the Department of Public Safety and Texas Parks and Wildlife, as well as Tactical Marine Units.
Infrastructure and Recovery: Texas Forest Service saw crews to clear debris from roads and Department of Transportation personnel to monitor highway conditions.
Medical and Utility Support: Emergency medical task forces with ambulances and all-terrain vehicles, along with monitors from the Public Utility Commission to coordinate power outage responses.
State agencies are also monitoring the state’s natural gas supply and water quality as the storms move through.
Officials encouraged residents to assemble emergency kits and check road conditions at DriveTexas.org before attempting to travel.
The Source: Information in this article is from the Governor Greg Abbott Press Office.
