New Facts: Texas Senate Primaries Heat Up Ahead of Election

John Cornyn ramped up his warning that nominating Ken Paxton would jeopardize the GOP’s hold on the Texas seat in November. The Republican primary is a three-way fight with Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, with late polls putting Paxton slightly ahead and a May runoff likely if no one crosses 50 percent. Ad spending has already topped $128 million statewide, and Donald Trump has stayed neutral.

Democrats head into Tuesday with a head-to-head between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, while a little-known third candidate on the ballot leaves a runoff possible. Early voting surged, with roughly 1.5 million Democratic ballots and about 1.3 million Republican ballots cast by Saturday, and Democrats more than doubling their 2022 primary turnout. Talarico and allied groups have poured roughly $23 million into advertising to under $5 million for Crockett.

The Democratic race turned personal in the final stretch: Crockett accused a group backing Talarico of darkening her skin in an ad, and Talarico faced an accusation he called Colin Allred a “mediocre Black man,” which he denied as a critique of campaigning; Allred endorsed Crockett. Crockett also drew a late robocall from Kamala Harris and an endorsement from Cardi B, while Republicans tried to boost her profile with ads from Gov. Greg Abbott and messages hitting her on immigration. Talarico got a burst of attention when a shelved late-night interview helped him raise $2.5 million in 24 hours.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources