James Talarico (D) defeated Ken Paxton (R) and five other candidates to win the general election for U.S. Senate in Texas on November 3, 2026.

Incumbent John Cornyn (R) lost to Paxton in the Republican primary runoff. As of November 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Lean Democratic, Tilt Democratic, or Toss-up. Heading into the 2026 election, the most recent Democrat to win election to the U.S. Senate from Texas was Lloyd Bentsen (D) in 1988. In 2024, incumbent Ted Cruz (R) defeated Colin Allred (D) 53.1%–44.6%. In 2020, Cornyn defeated M.J. Hegar (D) 53.5%–43.9%. CNN's Aaron Blake said, "[T]he data suggest Democrats’ chances are as good as — or better than — ever in the last three decades. History and logic suggest it’s still worth being circumspect." As of November 2026, Talarico had raised $146 million and Paxton had raised $22.3 million.

Talarico was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. He earlier taught middle school language arts in San Antonio. Talarico completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. In his survey response, Talarico wrote, "As a legislator, I’ve proven that I can pass ambitious legislation to make life better for Texans. I’ve passed 60 bipartisan bills to make Texans lives better including lowering the cost of prescription drugs and expanding child care. ... The real fight in this country isn’t Left vs Right; it’s Top vs Bottom. Right now, the rich are getting richer, and the rest of us are struggling to get by."

Paxton was elected as Texas Attorney General in 2014. He served in the Texas Senate from 2013 to 2015 and in the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. Paxton's campaign website said, "Both President Trump and Ken Paxton have been targeted in politically motivated witch hunts because there’s nothing that scares the establishment more than courageous conservatives who never back down from standing up for the American people. ... Ken Paxton is running to stop the most radical Democrat in Texas history, James Talarico, from representing Texas in the United States Senate."

As of November 2, 2026, satellite groups had reported spending a combined $467 million supporting or opposing Talarico and Paxton. This figure included $223 million spent to oppose Talarico, $103 million spent to oppose Paxton, $99.1 million spent to support Paxton, and $41.4 million spent to support Talarico.

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate in the 120th Congress. Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats were up for election, and another two seats were up for special election. Democrats held 13 of the seats up for election, and Republicans held 22.

At the time of the election, Republicans had a 53-45 majority in the chamber.

Minor party, independent, and write-in candidates included Ted Brown (L), Avery Ayers (Independent) (Write-in), Bradford Hall (Independent) (Write-in), Zul Mohamed (Independent) (Write-in), and Jade Simmons (Independent) (Write-in).