Talarico holds small lead over Cornyn, Paxton in US Senate race, poll finds
A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling found that Democrat James Talarico leads both GOP candidates in the U.S. Senate race.
The Republican candidates – incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – are preparing for a May runoff.
The poll was conducted between March 4 and 5.
AUSTIN, Texas – Some of the first polling of the general election race for U.S. Senate in Texas showed that the Democratic candidate has the lead over both Republicans vying for the seat.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico won the Democratic Party’s nomination during last week’s primary. However, the Republicans running for the office – incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – are preparing for a May runoff after neither of them cracked the 50% threshold during the primary.
The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling between March 4 and 5 and asked respondents questions ranging from the favorability of President Donald Trump to their education. Respondents were 30% Democrat, 41% Republican and 30% Independent.
Favorability and matchups
More people held a favorable opinion of Talarico than either Cornyn or Paxton. However, more people saw Paxton as unfavorable than Cornyn.
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The poll also asked people who they would vote for in two different scenarios – Cornyn vs. Talarico and Paxton vs. Talarico. In both cases, more people said they would vote for the Democrat than the Republican.
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What they’re saying:
«These numbers suggest a close race regardless of who the GOP nominates,» pollsters wrote in a release about the survey. «The Texas Senate race will be highly competitive; driven by Talarico’s broad approval, and Cornyn and Paxton’s general election liabilities.»
Trump factor
Respondents were just about evenly split on their approval of Trump’s job performance, with 49% approving and 48% disapproving.
The president notably stayed out of the primary race by not endorsing any candidate.
However, Trump said after the runoff reality of the GOP Senate race that he would be endorsing a candidate «soon» and would ask the other candidate to drop out.
Paxton has said he would consider dropping out of the race if Congress passes the Save America Act, which seeks to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
https://www.fox7austin.com/election/talarcio-cronyn-paxton-texas-senate-poll-march-2026
#talarico #jamestalarico #paxton #cornyn #kenpaxton #johncornyn #tx #texas #trump #donaldtrump #senate #txsenate #texassenate
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Hi Sahil! 👋 i'm happy your back reporting news!
Trump endorsing Cornyn but still losing regardless would be a BIG HIT to his ego
The Crockett fanclub are still crying like babies because theyre favorite zionist didnt win the primary 😢
Talarico has not said a word about the Gaza Genocide. His biggest donor was Miriam Adelson. All the candidates in that district are genocidal. As far as I am concerned, we progressives don't have a dog in the fight.
Its really unwoke but its crazy to compare the physiognomy of Talarico, Platner and Mamdani to the average male republican politician.
crossed party lines to vote for him. NO AIPAC money. go home israel. lie in the bed youve made. well owe iran for years after this.
this war may make our country ours again.
Now we just need a Democrat governor challenger that's going to have Talarico campaigning for them. Landslide
Dude has no shot. Can't get the white or black vote.
It’s still too early
No worries he’s a red herring anyway.
This is nice, but it isn't that big a thing by itself. Its a pretty common pattern for candidate who's primary is concluded to get a bump in the polls against the candidates still fighting their primary. Party voters in the moment think if their preferred candidate doesn't get their nomination they'll not vote or even switch parties… but history shows by the time of the general they normally fall back in line with their party. If nothing else changes we will see that couple of points jump Talarico is getting right now will drop away. However, momentum is a hell of a thing and one thing that's held back Democrats in Texas for decades has been the perception they can't win. Pulling ahead in some polls will mean more media time and electorate attention, and Talarico presents his case with great skill.