Texas 31st Congressional District: 2026 House Race

Three seats on Texas's new 15th Court of Appeals are up for election in November, marking the first time voters will weigh in since Gov. Greg Abbott appointed the court's inaugural members in 2024. Created by the Legislature in 2023, the court handles civil cases involving the state, challenges to state laws' constitutionality, and business-court appeals before they reach the Texas Supreme Court. Winners will serve six-year terms.

Primaries were uncontested, leaving one Republican incumbent facing one Democrat in each race: Chief Justice Scott Brister vs. Jerry Zimmerer, Place 2's Scott Field vs. Tom Baker, and Place 3's April Farris vs. Marc Meyer. All three incumbents hold substantial fundraising leads, backed heavily by Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC and other business and legal interests. Since taking the bench, the Republican-majority court has ruled on marijuana policy, abortion, and campaign finance, at times drawing criticism from Attorney General Ken Paxton. The outcomes will shape the ideological direction of a court with broad authority over state-related litigation.

Williamson County commissioners have approved moving forward with planning and design for a future medical examiner's office, budgeting $500,000 for initial design and infrastructure work. The office is slated for a designated space in the county's Lake Creek building in north Austin, purchased in October 2024.

Judge Steven Snell said he has discussed a possible regional partnership with the Travis County medical examiner's office as a temporary or multi-year solution while Williamson County builds its own capacity, potentially saving costs. The rapidly growing county currently relies on a justice of the peace system to investigate deaths, a practice scrutinized in prior KXAN investigations. Statewide, only 14 of Texas' 254 counties operate medical examiner offices. Related legislation failed to pass last session, but a Texas House panel is now examining the state's death investigation system and whether to expand medical examiner access statewide.

Gerald Prater, a candidate for Leander ISD's Place 1 board seat, died on Sept. 28, raising questions about Texas election procedure. Under state law, a certified candidate's name generally remains on the ballot after death unless removed well before the election, and votes cast for them still count. Prater's name will stay on the Nov. 3 ballot against opponent Serenity Coates. A similar situation exists in Brazoria County, where a sitting justice of the peace remains on the ballot; if he wins, commissioners would appoint a replacement. If Prater's seat becomes vacant, Leander ISD's board can appoint a replacement or call a special election in May.

Texas' open U.S. Senate race has narrowed to a close contest between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico of Austin, with Libertarian Ted Brown also on the ballot. The seat is being vacated by John Cornyn, who lost the GOP primary to Paxton. Polls show the race within the margin of error, giving Talarico a slight edge as Democrats seek their first statewide Texas win since 1994.

Paxton, attorney general since 2015 and a longtime conservative legal combatant against federal policy, has backing from President Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate GOP leadership but did not respond to candidate questionnaires. Talarico, serving his fourth House term, has set state fundraising records and drawn endorsements from labor and civil rights groups. Brown, a longtime Libertarian activist, rounds out the field.

Early voting runs Oct. 19 through Oct. 30, with Election Day on Nov. 3. The Senate race shares the ballot with Texas' gubernatorial contest between Gov. Greg Abbott and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa. With the Senate split 53-47 in Republicans' favor, a Democratic upset in Texas would ease their path toward a majority, making the race a closely watched national bellwether.

Republican Austin Rogers and Democrat Amanda Green, competing to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn in Florida's 2nd Congressional District, will hold their only Leon County forum Oct. 27 at a Tallahassee business luncheon. Rogers, a former aide to Sen. Rick Scott, has Trump's endorsement, broad business backing and a large fundraising lead. Green, a development-sector operations director, has endorsements from former Rep. Allen Boyd, Blue Dog PAC and the Alliance for Retired Americans, and is courting farmers and independents frustrated with trade policy and rising costs. The GOP has held the seat 14 of the last 16 years; forecasters including Decision Desk HQ and Cook Political Report favor Rogers heavily.

Texas Republicans are moving to revive Senate Bill 7, a sweeping elections measure that died over the weekend after Democratic lawmakers staged a walkout to deny the House a quorum before a midnight deadline. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to call a special session to pass the bill and possibly other stalled conservative priorities, including a ban on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports.

The bill would cut polling hours, empower partisan poll watchers, ban drive-through and 24-hour voting, and includes a contested provision making it easier for judges to void election results over unproven fraud claims. Democrats objected especially to new limits on early Sunday voting, a key day for Black churchgoers, though one GOP negotiator called that provision a drafting error. Abbott has threatened to veto legislative salaries in retaliation and invoked the 2013 Wendy Davis filibuster, which Republicans overturned in a special session. President Biden urged Democrats nationally to intensify voting rights efforts as Congress prepares to debate federal elections legislation.

Texas's 2026 elections feature unexpectedly competitive statewide races, a rarity in a state no Democrat has won statewide since 1994. The marquee contest pits state Rep. James Talarico against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, with control of the chamber and the final two years of President Trump's term potentially at stake. Gov. Greg Abbott faces a tighter-than-expected challenge from state Rep. Gina Hinojosa despite a large fundraising edge. A recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll showed Democrat Vikki Goodwin narrowly ahead of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Nathan Johnson slightly leading Mayes Middleton for attorney general, with all surveyed races within the margin of error. Republicans' new congressional redistricting plan will also be tested.

A letters roundup in the Austin American-Statesman reflects public frustration following a shooting by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent involving an unarmed person in Austin. Letter writers criticized Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for what they described as silence on the incident, framing it as part of a broader pattern of prioritizing political power over public safety ahead of upcoming midterm elections.

Other letters in the same collection touched on separate but related state issues: the University of Texas removing ethnic and gender studies majors amid concerns over academic independence, a proposed data center facing an attorney general probe, and criticism of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's use of AI-generated campaign ads. Writers also referenced Paxton's impeachment, settled securities law case, and whistleblower settlement history. The recurring theme across submissions was distrust of Republican leadership in Texas and a call for voters to hold officials accountable in the midterms.