Texas voters will choose a U.S. senator Tuesday, Nov. 3, in a race where living costs top one poll’s issue list and interviews point to disagreement over the state’s cultural direction.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is facing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. The Texas Secretary of State’s certified ballot also lists Libertarian Ted Brown.
Cost of living ranked first in a CBS News/YouGov survey of 1,492 registered Texas voters conducted Oct. 8-16. Most respondents said higher prices had hurt them. CBS reported that Talarico led among voters who said prices had hurt them, while Paxton had more support from voters who approved of the Trump administration’s deportation program. EconoTimes previously examined the candidates’ positions on affordability.
CBS also reported interviews with Paxton and Talarico supporters around San Antonio. Some Paxton supporters emphasized Texas’s identity as the state changes culturally. Talarico supporters spoke of wanting political change and said campaign attacks tied to cultural issues were not persuading them. CBS’s interviews are individual accounts and are not representative of Texas voters as a whole. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who campaigned for Paxton, told CBS, “These races are all about turnout.”
Other polls showed different margins. Marist’s survey, conducted Oct. 8-11, put Talarico ahead 47% to 45% among likely voters. A University of Houston Hobby School survey from Oct. 10-14 showed him leading 48% to 46%. A CNN transcript dated Oct. 29 reported a poll with Talarico at 49% and Paxton at 43%. These are separate readings of voter sentiment, not election results.
The Associated Press reported that Texas last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1988 and described this race as Democrats’ strongest opportunity in decades to win a Texas seat. The AP also reported that President Donald Trump carried Texas by more than 10 percentage points in 2024 and placed the contest within the national fight for control of Congress. Voters are scheduled to decide the seat Tuesday, Nov. 3.
