On May 26, Texas Republican voters will choose their nominee for the U.S. Senate in a runoff election between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The big picture
The Republican race for U.S. Senate is one of several statewide contests that advanced to May runoffs after no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the March 3 primary election.
Cornyn and Paxton were the two highest-performing candidates in the eight-way primary race, with Cornyn securing 42% of the vote to Paxton's 41%.
The winner of the May 26 overtime round will face the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate—state Rep. James Talarico of Austin—in the November midterm election. Third-party and independent candidates may also appear on the November ballot, and the winner of that election will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate in January 2027.
Preparing for the polls
Early voting in Texas' runoff elections runs from May 18-22. Runoff elections, like primaries, are separated by political party, meaning Texans who voted in one party's primary this March may only vote in the same party's runoff. Individuals who did not participate in the March primaries or a third-party nominating convention can vote in either party’s runoff this May.
Runoff election day is May 26. For more information about the state and local races on your runoff ballot, visit communityimpact.com/election.
What you need to know
The original version of this election questionnaire was published Jan. 20, ahead of the March 3 primary election. Community Impact is republishing Q&As for five statewide runoff races, with the goal of providing a side-by-side, equitable resource for Texas voters to review candidates' perspectives as they prepare to head to the polls this month.
This Q&A was updated to remove the six primary candidates who did not advance to the May 26 runoff, but candidates' answers were not changed from the originally published article.
Candidates were asked to keep responses under 50 words, answer the questions provided and avoid attacking opponents. Answers may have been minimally edited or cut to adhere to those guidelines, or for style and clarity.
* indicates incumbent candidate
