Overview
- The campaigns stepped up turnout operations after early voting began Monday, Oct. 19, with both candidates running statewide bus tours, rallies and targeted get-out-the-vote pushes in population centers such as Houston and Fort Worth.
- A weekend ad for Democrat James Talarico features Friday Night Lights actors Connie Britton, Jesse Plemons and Adrianne Palicki and is part of a star-studded push to raise visibility and drive votes.
- A newly public 'Pastors for Paxton' coalition of about 27 mostly evangelical and charismatic pastors has launched to mobilize congregations and join Paxton’s Come and Take It bus tour.
- The race is one of 2026’s costliest contests, with reporting of hundreds of millions in outside ad buys and large donations linked to major figures backing Paxton, while Democrats point to large fundraising and celebrity support for Talarico.
- Polling shows the contest essentially tied and both sides are emphasizing different appeals — Paxton on his record and conservative priorities and Talarico on affordability and anti‑corruption — making turnout over the next two weeks decisive for control of the Senate and for Texas’s long-term political map.