Two blockbuster Senate primaries dominated attention, chaos reigned in down-ballot races and an intense runoff season looms.

Photographers across the state covered this year’s primary election.

The Austin Democrat’s win comes after a bitter primary that focused on which candidate’s political and electoral strategy would get the party’s first statewide victory in over 30 years.

Dallas and Williamson counties closed centralized voting centers, which had become a common practice, at the request of local Republicans.

This Tuesday, Tribune reporters are watching two blockbuster Senate primaries, an open attorney general seat, and more high-stakes, competitive races up and down the Texas ballot.

A super PAC supporting James Talarico is running ads online warning that the GOP is “boosting” Jasmine Crockett. Her spokesperson said Republicans “who underestimate her do so at their own peril.”

Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico face off in the state’s first blockbuster Democratic primary in decades. The race will likely conclude Tuesday, with the outside chance of a runoff.

The call gives Crockett a jolt of support from one of her party’s biggest stars in the home stretch of her Senate Democratic primary against state Rep. James Talarico.

Before she was a firebrand congresswoman, Jasmine Crockett was a public defender — and local Democratic party chair — in Texarkana.

In the Senate Democratic primary, Talarico has made his church’s ethos of compassion central to his campaign, while Jasmine Crockett is tapping into the civic power of Black churches.

On the Republican side, Ken Paxton and John Cornyn were neck-and-neck and in position for a runoff, according to the poll from the University of Texas’ Texas Politics Project.

As Texas voters head into the 2026 primary, candidates are using artificial intelligence to mock opponents and sharpen attacks.

Jasmine Crockett has built enormous enthusiasm among Black voters based in part on her reputation as a fighter, while her opponent in the Texas primary, James Talarico, has struggled to win their support.

Talarico’s haul, announced days before early voting, already outpaces what he raised over the last three months of last year.

Our hosts are joined by Democratic strategist and content creator Olivia Julianna and political reporter Kayla Guo to unpack what all the recent social media drama means about the Democratic party.

The survey findings released Monday come just eight days before the start of early voting.

The near-constant stream of takes from content creators has come to frame the primary between Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico as a referendum on identity politics in the Democratic Party.

Crockett raised about $2 million between her Dec. 8 campaign launch and year’s end, about one-third of Talarico’s haul over the first three weeks of his Senate bid.

After coming under fire for some earlier comments about Latinos, Crockett is working to narrow Democratic rival James Talarico’s lead among the key voting bloc.

The survey of likely Democratic voters suggests the March 3 primary is a toss-up less than three weeks out from early voting.

Saturday’s debate, hosted by the Texas AFL-CIO, gives voters their first side-by-side glimpse of the candidates’ contrasting styles and proposals ahead of the March 3 primary.

The spot, which describes the Austin Democrat’s work on education issues in the Legislature, will air this week in nearly a dozen of the state’s largest media markets.

Texas’ Senate Republican primary, meanwhile, looks headed for a runoff. The survey found U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in a dead heat against Attorney General Ken Paxton, with neither eclipsing 30%.

Haynes staked out several progressive policy positions at his recent campaign launch event, including support for Medicare for All and dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Democratic Senate hopeful’s campaign said virtually all the donations, 98%, were for $100 or less. Candidates must file updates by the end of the month.

State Rep. James Talarico faces an uphill battle in his U.S. Senate bid while 15th Congressional hopeful Bobby Pulido aims to flip the district, but he must first win his primary.

Crockett had higher name recognition and an overwhelming edge among Black voters, while Talarico kept her margin to single digits through greater support among white and Latino voters.

Some Democrats dismissed the Dallas congresswoman as too polarizing to capture the swing voters needed to win. Others said her turnout-over-persuasion approach is the recipe to break through.

Crockett, a second-term congresswoman, has skyrocketed to fame through viral spats with Republicans, becoming one of her party’s most prolific fundraisers.

The Dallas congresswoman said she discussed polling with Colin Allred and James Talarico.

The survey found many Texas voters are either undecided or would support candidates who haven’t actually entered the race. It also showed GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Dallas freshman congresswoman took to the national convention stage to ridicule former President Donald Trump and extol Vice President Kamala Harris.

Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett introduced House Bill 7412 to fix administrative issues that have created hurdles for some in rural communities.

Republicans were not in agreement about whether they supported suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The legislation comes after a bill to decriminalize the test strips passed the Texas House but died in the Senate despite support from Gov. Greg Abbott.

A requirement to work 80 hours a month, starting in September, could affect 44,000 Texans over age 49. Meanwhile, attention in Congress shifts to the farm bill’s significant impact on food stamp policy.

GOP lawmakers dismiss the charges over classified documents as a partisan attack, but Democrats say the matter proves nobody is above the law.

Texas’ seven freshly elected members of Congress run the ideological gamut, from impassioned conservatives to some of the most progressive members ever sent from Texas.

The state representative beat Jane Hope Hamilton in the primary runoff for the congressional seat based in southern Dallas.

Crockett is running on her experience as a legislator, a civil rights attorney and as the incumbent’s hand-picked successor. Hamilton is running on her more than 20 years as a behind-the-scenes congressional staffer and campaign adviser.

Redistricting has empowered activists of both parties to push platforms further right or left. Progressives view three key Democrats’ advancements in the Texas primary election as a potential turning point for their movement.

The support comes with less than three weeks left in the crowded primary race to success retiring U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson in her securely Democratic district in Dallas.

Johnson did not make her retirement official until November, setting off an abridged scramble to set up campaigns ahead of the December filing deadline but attracting a packed lineup of experienced candidates who are either well connected, well known or well funded.

Crockett is running for the seat vacated by Johnson, who announced Saturday that she would not seek reelection in the 30th Congressional District after serving nearly three decades in Congress. The seat is solidly Democratic.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett pushed bills to reform policing, expand voting options and loosen drug laws in the state. But she made waves for her passionate dissent.