Pinned
James Talarico, a state representative and seminarian, won the Democratic Senate primary in Texas on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, prevailing over Representative Jasmine Crockett in a race that drew record early turnout and was roiled by Election Day rule changes. On the Republican side, Senator John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, the hard-right, scandal-plagued state attorney general, were headed to a runoff in May.
In the Democratic race, voter confusion in Dallas County — the state’s second most populous and Ms. Crockett’s base of support — prompted a flurry of legal activity. “I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised,” Ms. Crockett told supporters at her election night gathering.
A judge ordered polling places in the county to remain open an extra two hours after a change in voting rules left some voters befuddled about where to cast their ballots, but the state’s Supreme Court later blocked the order. The higher court said that votes “cast by voters who were not in line to vote at 7 p.m. should be separated.”
It was not clear whether Ms. Crockett would dispute the result. “I have no idea how it is that clerks are going to know who was in line by what time,” she said at her election night event, before saying she would have not further comment on Tuesday night. (Paul Adams, the Dallas County election administrator, said officials are trained to mark the last person in line at 7 p.m. in any election.)
North Carolina and Arkansas also held primaries on Tuesday, kicking off this year’s midterms and offering early clues about the direction of both major parties. In North Carolina, Roy Cooper, a former Democratic governor, and Michael Whatley, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, won their primaries in another closely watched race that could decide control of the Senate in November.
Other notable races involved House members from both major parties in Texas who were fighting to maintain their seats. Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas became the first sitting member to fall in a primary this midterm election season.
Mr. Crenshaw, the only House Republican incumbent seeking re-election in Texas who did not have President Trump’s endorsement, lost to Steve Toth, a state legislator who criticized him for breaking with the president on some issues.
Here’s what else to know:
Reporting the results: Here’s how The New York Times brings you the latest vote totals and estimates of the outcome on political races around the country. Read more ›
Key race in N.C.: A primary race for the State Senate seat in North Carolina held by Phil Berger, widely considered the most powerful Republican politician in the state, remained too close to call. But that did not stop Mr. Berger’s challenger, Sam Page, a small-town sheriff steeped in President Trump’s political movement, from declaring victory. Read more ›
Tejano singer wins: Bobby Pulido, a moderate Democrat and Latin Grammy Award-winning Tejano singer, won his House primary in South Texas, fending off a candidate running to his left. He will face Representative Monica De La Cruz in November. Read more ›
Democratic hopes: The party has seen these dynamics before in Texas: An unpopular Republican president, well-funded Democrats and anecdotes of disaffected G.O.P. and independent voters. But no Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994. This year, Mr. Talarico and Ms. Crockett have offered two different theories of how to end the party’s long losing streak. Read more ›
House races to watch: Democrats are playing defense on a redrawn House map in Texas, while incumbents in both parties face fierce primary challenges in Texas and North Carolina.“