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Federal · November 3, 2026 General Election

United States Senator

6-year term

This race is on every Texas ballot. Texas Secretary of State — Offices up for Election in 2026

One of two senators representing all of Texas in Washington. Votes on federal laws, the federal budget, and confirms federal judges and cabinet officials.

What this office does

Each state elects two U.S. Senators, who write and vote on federal law. The Senate also holds powers the House does not: it reviews and approves or rejects the president's nominees for judges, ambassadors and other senior posts under the Constitution's "advice and consent" clause, approves treaties by a two-thirds vote, and has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials, serving as both jury and judge. Congress as a whole holds the power to declare war and to investigate the executive branch.

Source: United States Senate — Powers & Procedures

On the ballot

What we compareKen PaxtonJames Talarico
NowAttorney General of Texas (51st), sworn in January 2015; re-elected 2018 and 2022Office of the Attorney General of TexasTexas State Representative, District 50 (first elected 2018)Texas House of Representatives
BeforeTexas House of Representatives, District 70 (first elected 2002, served 10 years); Texas Senate, District 8 (elected 2012)Office of the Attorney General of Texas
WorkLawyer; ran his own law firm for 14 years in McKinneyOffice of the Attorney General of TexasFormer public school teacher, then legislatorTexas House — official biography
Raised$9.25M$9,248,699 in total receipts, through Jun 30, 2026 — Federal Election Commission — candidate financial summary
Individuals 98% · PACs & committees 2%
$68.6M$68,555,930 in total receipts, through Jun 30, 2026 — Federal Election Commission — candidate financial summary
Individuals 99% · PACs & committees 1%
Under $20023%$2,496,844 of the $10,903,097 broken out by gift size came in under $200 — Federal Election Commission — candidate financial summary of gifts broken out by size66%$44,905,022 of the $68,551,025 broken out by gift size came in under $200 — Federal Election Commission — candidate financial summary of gifts broken out by size
Their wordsIn the Senate, he will work alongside President Trump to Make America Healthy Again by taking on Big Pharma and Big Foodkenpaxton.com — Issues — self-reported ↗we need more fighters in Washington who will take power back for working peoplejamestalarico.com — Meet James — self-reported ↗
Records check3 official entries on file, with how each ended →Searched — nothing found
Full profile →Full profile →

Money figures are as filed with the Federal Election Commission, and cover only the period each report covers — they are a snapshot, not a live total. Each candidate’s profile carries that filing’s own caveats.

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Same rows for every candidate, listed alphabetically by surname — not the order they appear on the ballot, and never by party. A dash means we hold nothing for that line, not that the answer is zero.

Open seat: incumbent John Cornyn lost his party's primary runoff on May 26, 2026 and is not on the November ballot. Major-party nominees confirmed from the completed March 3 and May 26, 2026 primaries. Minor-party and independent candidates are not yet confirmed against the certified ballot — check the official sample ballot.

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Cite this: https://plaindocket.com/ballot/race/us-senate-2026 — data from official records via PlainDocket.