Texas got the 2026 midterm election calendar underway with a slate of primaries that drew rare turnout, record-setting spending and remarkable national attention. But as bruising as Tuesday’s primaries were, some candidates are just getting ready for Round Two.
Because the state’s electoral system requires that primary candidates receive an outright majority of the votes, its primary elections are often multistage affairs. Late-winter Primary Days narrow crowded races down to one-on-one contests and give way to spring runoff elections.
A lot can change in between. In 2012, a Tea Party-backed insurgent named Ted Cruz got new life after finishing more than 10 points behind an establishment favorite in a Republican Senate primary race. The contest went to a runoff, Mr. Cruz won head-to-head and then won the general election. He has served in the Senate ever since.
Here are some of the high-profile races headed to runoffs on May 26.
U.S. Senate: John Cornyn vs. Ken Paxton
The rancorous three-way Republican primary for Senate between Senator John Cornyn, the longtime incumbent; Ken Paxton, the scandal-scarred state attorney general; and Representative Wesley Hunt ended with Mr. Hunt knocked out, finishing a distant third.
The result set in motion a rematch with essentially the same dynamic: Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Paxton in a virtual dead heat.
But President Trump said on Wednesday that he would soon endorse one of the candidates and ask the other to drop out, potentially rendering the sequel significantly less riveting than this week’s original, given the considerable sway he holds in G.O.P. primaries.
18th Congressional District: Christian Menefee vs. Al Green
Representative Al Green, a Democrat known for acts of protest at Mr. Trump’s State of the Union speeches, is headed to a runoff with a House newcomer, Representative Christian Menefee.
Mr. Green, 78, and Mr. Menefee, 37, were effectively drawn into the same Houston-area district last summer. A third Democrat on the ballot, Amanda Edwards, prevented either candidate from reaching the 50 percent of the vote needed to advance.
33rd District: Colin Allred vs. Julie Johnson
Former Representative Colin Allred, a Democrat, is headed to a runoff against Representative Julie Johnson in a newly drawn Dallas-area House district.
Mr. Allred, a former N.F.L. linebacker, gave up his seat in 2024 to run for the Senate, and briefly ran for the Senate again this cycle before switching to the House race. Neither he nor Ms. Johnson, a first-term congresswoman, came particularly close to winning a majority of the vote Tuesday in their four-way primary. Ms. Johnson is the first openly gay House member from a Southern state, according to her office.
23 Congressional District: Tony Gonzales vs. Brandon Herrera
Representative Tony Gonzales, a third-term Republican from a rural area of southwest Texas, faces a runoff after allegations surfaced that he had pressured an aide into an extramarital affair before she died by suicide last year.
The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday that it would investigate Mr. Gonzales, who has denied having had an inappropriate relationship. He is running against Brandon Herrera, a hard-line conservative, YouTuber and gun-rights activist, the leading vote-getter among three candidates who had challenged Mr. Gonzales in Tuesday’s primary.
State Attorney General: Chip Roy vs. Mayes Middleton
Representative Chip Roy, a fourth-term Republican and longtime House rabble-rouser who has broken with Mr. Trump on the 2020 election and other issues, is heading to a runoff in the race for state attorney general.
Mr. Roy faces State Senator Mayes Middleton, an oil executive who has accused him of being disloyal to the president. Mr. Middleton led Mr. Roy in the four-way primary held Tuesday.
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