By Lauren Fairbanks and J Pete Laney
TAD Governmental Relations
The primary election runoff is complete and now all eyes will turn to the November general election. The business of the Texas Capitol has heated up as well with Senate and House committees continuing to have hearings on interim charges through the summer.
Texas Primary Runoff Election Results
The Texas 2026 primary runoff elections were some of the most watched elections in the country. Texas voters chose the last of each party’s nominees for the Republican and Democratic tickets in the 2026 general election in November. One of the most anticipated races was Texas’ Republican U.S. Senate seat runoff between four-term incumbent John Cornyn and Trump-backed Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Notable races that were decided on May’s runoff ballot included:
- U.S. Senate (R): Paxton soundly ousted incumbent Cornyn.
- Attorney General (R): State Sen. Mayes Middleton won in a tight race against Congressman Chip Roy.
- Railroad Commissioner (R): Bo French ousted incumbent Railroad Commission Chairman Jim Wright in a race that came down to the wire.
- Texas House (D) – Two races: Incumbent Rep. Venton Jones (D-Dallas) held onto his seat while Rep. Hubert Vo (D-Houston) was defeated by Darlene Breaux.
Find more details below on these races.
More Texans voted in the May 26 runoff election than in any previous runoff election in state history. The hotly contested statewide races were the main draw, pulling 1.9 million voters to the polls in an election that normally has abysmal turnout. The previous runoff voter turnout record of 1.4 million voters was set in 2022.
Despite the record numbers, turnout represented only about 10% of Texas’ 18.7 million voters, far below the 24% seen in the March primaries and the 61% who voted in the November 2024 presidential election.
U.S. Senate
Paxton defeated Cornyn in a landslide victory 64% to 36% to win the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Over a year of campaigning, and with more than $135 million spent, the marquee race became a referendum on Texas Republican politics. President Donald Trump endorsed Paxton in the final days of the campaign after several months of anticipation from both candidates. Paxton won overwhelmingly in the largest margin in the state’s runoff elections. Paxton will now face Democratic nominee James Talarico in the November general election.
Attorney General
Both parties had candidates in the runoff for the Attorney General’s first open seat in more than a decade. On the Republican side, Middleton defeated Roy 55.3% to 44.7%. Middleton won after a hard-fought runoff against Roy, who served as First Assistant AG under Paxton and Chief of Staff to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
On the Democrat side of the AG ticket, State Sen. Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski faced off in runoff for the seat. Johnson won handily. Johnson nearly won outright in the first round, falling 1.9% short of the 50% threshold. Johnson will face Middleton in November
Railroad Commissioner
The RRC runoff turned out to be one of the hottest races this year. Incumbent Wright, who currently serves as chair of the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, faced challenger French, the former Tarrant County GOP chair. In the closest race of the night, by a margin of less than 20,000 votes, French defeated Wright 50.6% to 46.4%. French will face Democrat Jon Rosenthal in November.
Lieutenant Governor
The runoff race to determine the Democratic candidate in the November election finally came to a head with Vikki Goodwin securing the nomination over Marcos Velez. Goodwin will face incumbent Dan Patrick, who is seeking his fourth term as the president of the Senate.
Texas Senate
Sixteen of the 31 Texas Senate districts have candidates on the ballot in 2026. Eight incumbents will have a general election opponent (two will not). Five senators did not seek re-election.
In May, longtime Republican Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon defeated Democrat Ron Angeletti in a special election for Senate District 4. The seat was vacated by Sen. Brandon Creighton when he was tapped to become Chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. Ligon and Angeletti are set for a rematch in November for a full four-year term. In the meantime, Ligon will serve the remainder of Creighton’s term until the start of the 90th legislative session in January.
Another closely watched race will be the rematch between Democrat Taylor Rehmet and Republican Leigh Wambsganss for Senate District 9 in the November general election. Rehmet’s upset victory in the January special election drew statewide and national attention in a traditionally Republican district. Both parties are expected to heavily target the seat again.
In Senate District 19, incumbent Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) will face Republican Marcus Cardenas after Cardenas defeated Robert Marks Jr. 51.9% to 48.1% in the only Texas Senate runoff of the cycle.
Texas House
Three incumbents lost their seats outright in the March primary. Altogether, 11 primary races in the Texas House headed to the May 26 runoff. Only two incumbents faced challengers, both in a Democrat runoff, with Jones prevailing and Vo losing.
Republicans currently hold an 88-62 majority in the Texas House. Twenty-one incumbents did not file for re-election. With the addition of the three incumbent losses in March and the one incumbent loss in the runoff, the Texas House will have at least 25 new members in 2027, with several races expected to be competitive in the November general election. For the first time in recent history, Democrats recruited candidates to run in all 150 House districts. The general election will determine the final composition of the chamber. Democrats would need to flip 14 seats to win control of the chamber.
Other House primary runoff results:
- HD 41. Longtime Rep. Bobby Guerra (D) announced his retirement last year. This district had the only House runoff with both parties on the ballot. Julio Salinas (D) will face Gary Groves (R) in November.
- HD 49. Gina Hinojosa’s (D) open seat sparked a Democratic runoff to replace her Austin-based House district. Montserrat Garibay(D) won.
- HD 100.Incumbent Rep. Venton Jones (D-Dallas) faced a runoff challenge from Amanda Richardson and held onto his seat.
- HD 125. Rep. Ray Lopez (D) did not seek reelection for his San Antonio seat. Adrian Reynawon the runoff election.
- HD 126. Rep. Sam Harless (R) did not seek reelection for this Houston seat. Stan Stanartwon the Republican nomination.
- HD 131. Rep. Alma Allen (D- Houston) announced her retirement after 20 years in office. Her son Lawrence Allen Jr. faced off in the runoff against Staci Childs. Childs prevailed.
- HD 149. Incumbent Rep. Hubert Vo (D-Houston) lost to challenger Darlene Breaux.
