Texas Democratic Party

Texas voters head to the polls with Republicans defending longtime dominance amid Democratic hopes fueled by opposition to President Trump. The marquee race pits Democratic state Rep. James Talarico against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, with control implications for Trump's final two years. Gov. Greg Abbott faces an unexpectedly close challenge from state Rep. Gina Hinojosa despite a fundraising edge. Down-ballot, polling shows tight margins for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and a Railroad Commission seat. Democrats must flip 14 Texas House seats and four Senate seats for majorities. No Democrat has won statewide in Texas since 1994. Early voting runs through October 30.

Texas Democrats are testing whether anti-Trump sentiment can break the GOP's decades-long statewide winning streak, with no Democrat having won statewide office since 1994. The marquee race pits Democratic state Rep. James Talarico against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat that could affect the chamber's balance. Gov. Greg Abbott faces an unexpectedly close challenge from state Rep. Gina Hinojosa despite a large fundraising edge. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll found several other statewide races within the margin of error, including lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and a Railroad Commission seat. The elections will also test a Republican plan to redraw five Democratic U.S. House districts.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, has accepted more than $500,000 in donations from alcohol industry PACs and executives since 2014, even as his office has sued to overturn local marijuana decriminalization measures and defended new restrictions on hemp-derived THC products. Texas recently classified certain hemp THC products, including delta-8 and delta-10, as Schedule I substances, making possession a felony. A judge recently declined to block the crackdown while litigation continues.

Democratic Senate opponent James Talarico has accused Paxton of doing the bidding of "big beer and big tobacco" donors rather than protecting public health, calling the arrangement corrupt. Paxton did not respond to requests for comment and was recently seen deflecting a question on the THC ban in a video that Texas Democrats seized on. Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Vikki Goodwin has made similar claims against Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who also received substantial alcohol industry contributions and backed hemp restrictions later vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott before being reimposed via executive order. The issue is emerging as a flashpoint in Texas's 2026 statewide races.

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 Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder says the party has erased its debt and built a $30 million coordinated campaign since he took over in March 2025, up from a $2 million effort under his predecessor. He credits a restructuring that moved staff out of Austin and into Dallas, Houston, Eagle Pass, and Amarillo, along with recruiting more than 1,000 precinct chairs, as key to preparing for competitive races ahead of the 2026 midterms and the 2030 redistricting cycle.

Scudder also addressed the contested Senate primary won by State Representative James Talarico over U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett, arguing Talarico now has a party infrastructure Beto O'Rourke lacked in his narrow 2018 loss. On data centers, he accused Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton of feigning opposition while Abbott's administration has committed roughly $1 billion in taxpayer incentives to the industry, calling their posture insincere and warning it could hurt Republican turnout in rural Texas, where the issue has become politically sensitive.

One year after Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas's mid-decade "One Big Beautiful Map," redrawing five congressional districts at President Trump's urging, polling suggests Republicans may not be reaping the gains they expected. The redistricting combined Black-majority districts in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth and paired two Austin Democrats, while shifting South Texas seats to favor the GOP, aiming for a net five-seat pickup for Republicans nationally.

Recent Texas Southern University polling shows Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar leading in District 28 and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez ahead in District 34, despite both districts being redrawn to favor Trump. In District 15, Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz trails Tejano musician Bobby Pulido despite a district redrawn heavily in Trump's favor. District 35, created by merging two Austin Democratic incumbents' territory, remains a contested open seat where House Speaker Mike Johnson recently campaigned for Republican Carlos De La Cruz against Democrat Johnny Garcia.

The shifting numbers, attributed partly to fallout from immigration enforcement, tariffs and inflation, complicate Republican hopes of using redistricting to offset historic midterm losses for the party controlling the White House.

Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar held a San Antonio press conference urging six Bexar County municipalities — Hollywood Park, China Grove, St. Hedwig, Balcones Heights, Sandy Oaks, and Von Ormy — to end their 287(g) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreements, entered under the Task Force model, let trained local police question people about citizenship status during patrols, access ICE databases, and arrest suspected undocumented immigrants.

Castro accused ICE of racial profiling and called the agency "rogue" and "abusive" under the Trump administration, citing conditions at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, which he has visited repeatedly and wants closed. He also suggested financial incentives, not just policy, are driving cities to sign on. Casar called on mayors to stop enrolling police in federal immigration enforcement. Texas law requires counties operating jails to participate in 287(g), a provision dating to 1996 legislation signed by President Bill Clinton, complicating efforts to unwind local participation.