The first primaries of the 2026 election cycle kick off in North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas on Tuesday, with both Democratic and Republican primary voters getting first crack at saying where their parties should go in the second Trump era.
The biggest races are in Texas, including two competitive Senate primaries. On the Democratic side, state Rep. James Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett are battling in a match-up of two politicians whose online profiles dwarf their offline power. On the GOP side, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn is expected to be forced into a runoff against state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Republicans fear they will end up with a battle between the populist Talarico and Paxton, a far-right Trump ally whose numerous scandals might make him weak enough to give Democrats their best shot at winning the state in three decades.
Elsewhere in Texas, mid-decade redistricting has led to a host of incumbent members of Congress – Democrats Al Green and Julie Johnson, along with Republican Tony Gonzales and Dan Crenshaw – facing surprisingly tough battles to reclaim their party’s nomination.
And North Carolina, a super PAC backed by the artificial intelligence industry is shaping the next marquee battle in the ongoing war between progressives and centrists in the Democratic Party.
