This story is part of the San Antonio Report’s 2026 Voter Guide. You can view all of the candidates on the Nov. 3 ballot here.
The U.S. Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton is the marquee contest for Texans this year — meaning the campaign spending, grassroots organization and messaging from these two candidates will set the tone for every other race on the ballot.
In the midterm of a Republican-controlled White House, many believe this unusual contest could offer Texas Democrats their best shot at a statewide office in quite some time.
National Republicans preferred their odds with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and broke spending records warning their party that Paxton was too damaged from scandal to win a general election.
But GOP voters chose Paxton by a 28-point margin in the primary runoff — and national PACs are now pouring money in to help a candidate who has raised little on his own.
Republicans control 53 out of 100 U.S. Senate seats, and Democrats need to flip four of them to take the majority this year.
Against all odds, Texas is among their best prospects.
Voters here haven’t elected a Democrat to a statewide office in more than three decades, but many of their other potential targets are in even redder territory.
Senators serve staggered six-year terms, so only about a third of them are up for reelection at a time.
Talarico, 37, taught school on San Antonio’s West Side before moving to Round Rock and winning a seat in the Texas House. His Senate campaign is raising big money like Texas Democrats haven’t seen since their last superstar, Beto O’Rourke, who came about 215,000 votes short of beating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2018.
Also on the ballot this year is Libertarian candidate Ted Brown, who ran against Cruz and Democrat Colin Allred in 2024, and took 2.4% of the vote.
Voter guide profiles are compiled using candidates’ filing paperwork, campaign materials and past news coverage. Click the links below to read more about the candidates.
