212 fact sheets
Democrat James Talarico leads Republican Ken Paxton by six points in the Texas U.S. Senate race, according to a New York Times/Siena Research Institute poll. Advertising spending in the race has reached $442 million, the second most expensive non-presidential race on record.
$442 million for U.S. Senate race advertising spending
James Talarico, Democrat candidate for U.S. Senate; State Representative; Ken Paxton, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate; Attorney General; Angela Paxton, State Senator (R-McKinney); appeared in ad during race and 2 more
Reported by 2 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in San Antonio on October 7 at Freeman Coliseum to support Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton. Texas Governor Greg Abbott did not attend, citing other planned campaign events.
Donald Trump, President; rally speaker; Ken Paxton, Republican Senate nominee; rally host; Greg Abbott, Texas Governor; did not attend and 3 more
Reported by 20 outletsFound via Google News
Gov. Greg Abbott raised over $20 million from July through late September, more than challenger Gina Hinojosa's $13 million, but has spent $141.3 million total since the start of the year. Abbott ended the reporting period with $18.2 million in cash on hand versus Hinojosa's $4 million.
Over $20 million for campaign funds raised
Greg Abbott, Republican incumbent Texas governor running for reelection; Gina Hinojosa, Democratic challenger in Texas governor race; Kim Snyder, Abbott campaign manager
Reported by 12 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
Nathan Johnson, the Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General, launched a seven-figure television ad buy on Monday. The 30-second spot criticizes current Attorney General Ken Paxton and argues for a new attorney general focused on the rule of law.
Seven-figure for television ad buy
Nathan Johnson, Democratic candidate for Texas Attorney General; Ken Paxton, Current Texas Attorney General, Republican; Mayes Middleton, Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General
One outletFound via Google News
Basin PBS announced a debate for Texas Senate District 31 scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m., featuring Republican Kevin Sparks and Democrat John Betancourt. The debate will be broadcast on Basin PBS and its Facebook and YouTube pages.
Basin PBS, organizer of debate series; Kevin Sparks, Republican candidate for Texas Senate District 31; John Betancourt, Democratic candidate for Texas Senate District 31
One outletFound via Google News
Angela Paxton, a Texas state senator estranged from and filing for divorce from Ken Paxton, appeared in an ad released over the weekend supporting the Republican ticket without naming her husband. She filed for divorce on "biblical grounds" in July 2025 citing his adultery.
Angela Paxton, Texas state senator, estranged wife of Ken Paxton; Ken Paxton, Republican Senate candidate; James Talarico, Democratic Texas state senator opposing Ken Paxton in Senate race and 1 more
Reported by 2 outletsFound via Google News
Election officials across Texas are working to process a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter registration records sent to counties due to a software error in the Texas Department of Public Safety web portal. The state's voter registration and management system, known as TEAM, is experiencing widespread technical problems that officials say are slowing their ability to clear the backlog before the October 5 registration deadline for midterm elections.
Not stated for grants to reimburse county costs to process backlogged applications
Shannon Lackey, Randall County election administrator; Texas Secretary of State's Office, State agency responsible for TEAM system and voter registration; Civix, Vendor that developed the TEAM voter registration database system and 3 more
Reported by 2 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
More than 1.2 million Texas voters are listed as "suspense," a designation that does not prevent voting but that advocates worry could discourage voter participation. Travis County had about 150,000 suspense voters as of mid-September, roughly 16% of the county's registered voters.
Reese Sandoval, UT Austin student, suspense voter; Labib Kibria, UT Austin student; Erin Johnsen, UT Austin student and 4 more
One outletFound via Google News
Political action committee ads supporting Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas U.S. Senate race aired during NFL games broadcast in multiple states on Sunday, October 4. The ads appeared during Eagles-Rams and Bears-Jets games in Philadelphia, Chicago, Iowa, and Virginia, among other locations.
more than $200 million for political spending in Texas Senate race
Ken Paxton, Republican candidate in Texas U.S. Senate race; James Talarico, Democratic candidate in Texas U.S. Senate race; Michael Hagen, Associate professor of political science at Temple University and 1 more
Reported by 3 outletsFound via Google News
CNN data analyst Harry Enten said Democrats' chances of winning the U.S. Senate depend heavily on the Texas Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton. Enten said Texas is the fourth most likely seat to flip and Talarico's victory would give Democrats a 78% chance of Senate control.
$31 million for campaign spending
Harry Enten, CNN chief data analyst; James Talarico, Democratic state representative running for U.S. Senate; Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate backed by Trump and 1 more
Reported by 5 outletsFound via Google News
Republican Governor Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa, candidates in the 2026 Texas governor race, have announced different approaches to reducing property taxes. Abbott proposes a four-point plan including spending limits, requiring two-thirds voter approval for tax increases, capping appraisal increases at 3%, and ending school districts' reliance on homeowner property taxes. Hinojosa aims to cut property taxes by using savings from ending corporate subsidies and eliminate residential property taxes entirely.
Abbott proposes to cap appraisal increases at 3% and require two-thirds voter approval for local tax increases; Hinojosa aims to cut property taxes using corporate subsidy savings and eliminate residential property taxes.
Greg Abbott, Republican Governor, candidate for fourth term; Gina Hinojosa, Democrat state representative from Austin, gubernatorial candidate; Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Praised by Abbott for reducing tax rate four years in a row
One outletOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
Three candidates are running for Texas attorney general in 2026 as incumbent Ken Paxton leaves to run for U.S. Senate. Republican state Sen. Mayes Middleton, Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson, and Libertarian Tom Oxford are competing for the office, with some polls showing Johnson within five points of Middleton.
Ken Paxton, Incumbent Attorney General leaving office to run for U.S. Senate; Mayes Middleton, Republican state senator and candidate for Texas attorney general; Nathan Johnson, Democratic state senator and candidate for Texas attorney general and 2 more
Reported by 3 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
Republican super PACs are spending heavily on ads supporting Ken Paxton's Texas Senate campaign. According to reports, $131 million has been spent over 17 days, with spending reaching up to $7.7 million per day.
$131 million for spending on ads supporting Paxton campaign
Ken Paxton, Texas Senate candidate; James Talarico, opposing Senate candidate; Vlad Davidiuk, political consultant and 2 more
Reported by 2 outletsFound via Google News
A software bug in Texas's voter registration system led to at least 590,000 voter registrations not being sent to county officials for processing. The Texas Election Administration Management (TEAM) system, rolled out in July 2025, has experienced multiple errors and data consistency problems that county officials say stem from fundamental system architecture failures.
$17 million for contract amount for TEAM system overhaul
Civix, Louisiana-based technology and consulting firm that rolled out the TEAM system overhaul; Texas Secretary of State's office, State agency overseeing voter registration system; Texas Association of County Election Officials, Organization of county election officials and 4 more
Reported by 4 outletsFound via Google News
The Texas Tribune announced an expansion of its sample ballot tool to include local elections and propositions for voters in the state's 50 most populous counties. The expanded tool now covers races from U.S. Senate to constables and school board trustees, as well as local propositions and bond elections.
The Texas Tribune, organization that expanded ballot tool
Reported by 2 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
An October 3 New York Times/Siena College poll of 615 likely Texas voters found Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton in the Senate race, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa leading incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in the governor race. The results mark shifts from earlier polling.
New York Times/Siena College, pollster; James Talarico, Democratic candidate for Texas Senate; Ken Paxton, Republican candidate for Texas Senate and 2 more
One outletFound via Google News
October 5, 2026 was the final deadline for Texas voters to register or update their registration for the November 3, 2026 midterm general election. Texas counties experienced a significant backlog of voter registration forms due to hundreds of thousands of records sent by the Texas Department of Public Safety about two weeks prior.
Not stated for grants to Texas elections offices
Texas Department of Public Safety, sent backlog of voter registration records to elections offices; Celia Israel, Travis County Tax Assessor and former State Rep.; Chris McGinn, executive director of Texas Association of County Election Officials and 3 more
Reported by 17 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised $18 million in the third quarter of 2026 for his U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat James Talarico. The haul more than doubled his second-quarter fundraising of $9 million.
$18 million for third-quarter campaign funds raised
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, Republican U.S. Senate candidate; James Talarico, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Austin state representative; Nick Maddux, Paxton senior adviser
Reported by 4 outletsFound via Google News
In leaked audio recordings from a private Washington fundraiser on Sept. 24, Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton said the Republican convention in Dallas "dropped our numbers" and complained that Washington D.C. controls his campaign messaging rather than his own team.
upward of $200 million for republican-aligned ad spending supporting Paxton
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General and Republican U.S. Senate nominee; James Talarico, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, state representative from Austin; Donald Trump, President and 1 more
Reported by 15 outletsOnly left-leaning outlets reported thisFound via Google News
Dated record: September 6, 2012 This is not new. It happened on September 6, 2012, about 14 years ago. It resurfaced in a source feed on October 3, 2026.
VoteTexas.gov, the official online source for voting information in Texas powered by the Office of the Secretary of State, was featured in this month's government spotlight on Texas.gov. The spotlight is timed to help Texans prepare for the November election.
Hope Andrade, Texas Secretary of State; Texas Secretary of State, Office that powers VoteTexas.gov
From an official record
You're caught up on today.
Get tomorrow's at 6 in the morning, in your inbox.