Republicans' grip on Texas is on the line in a close US Senate race between Paxton, Talarico

Texas voters decided Tuesday whether to end a three-decade Democratic drought in statewide elections, as Republican Ken Paxton faced Democrat James Talarico in one of the midterms' most closely watched Senate contests. The outcome could determine whether Republicans keep a vital stronghold and an already shaky Senate majority, according to ABC News.

Paxton, the state attorney general, won the nomination by beating Sen. John Cornyn after President Donald Trump endorsed him late, despite worries among Senate Republican leaders that his legal history made him a liability. That history includes a 2023 impeachment, an acquittal by fellow Republicans, and a federal corruption probe that ended without charges. His wife is now divorcing him. Voter anger over prices and the war with Iran has also hurt Trump and his party.

Talarico cast Paxton as a symbol of a rigged system favoring billionaires, a message sharpened when Elon Musk gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which passed the same sum to Texas PAC, Paxton's biggest backer. Paxton focused on energizing Republican voters and portraying Talarico as too progressive. Talarico has since called some of his earlier remarks on gender "cringey."

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News →