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The U.S. Senate race in Texas between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico is widely considered the marquee race of the midterm cycle.
READ MORE: Paxton and Talarico tussle for Texas Senate seat as Trump campaigns virtually
Paxton, the state's three-term attorney general, was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 and acquitted by the state Senate. With President Donald Trump's endorsement a week before the vote, he beat Sen. John Cornyn in a May primary runoff, the first time a Texas senator has lost renomination since 1970.
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Talarico is a state representative from the Austin suburbs, a former middle school teacher and a seminarian. He beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett outright in the March primary and has built his campaign around faith, public schools and cost of living.
No Democrat has won statewide in Texas since 1994. In recent polling, Paxton has trailed behind Talarico.
-- Matt Loffman
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Source: PBS NewsHour · By Lisa Desjardins, Kyle Midura, Jonah Anderson, Leila Jackson, Mira Donaldson
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- 🇺🇸 US
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