2026 Election: Third-party U.S. Senate candidate trying to gain traction
Third candidate for US Senate
The polls for the upcoming midterm election have consistently shown the battle for the US Senate remains very much a two-horse race. Another constant is voter dissatisfaction with Republican nominee Ken Paxton and Democrat nominee James Talarico. FOX 7 Austin's chief political reporter Rudy Koski spoke to the third candidate on the ballot.
AUSTIN, Texas - The polls for the upcoming midterm election have consistently shown the battle for the US Senate remains very much a two-horse race.
However, another constant is voter dissatisfaction with Republican nominee Ken Paxton and Democrat nominee James Talarico.
What they're saying:
Libertarian Ted Brown is also on the ballot and is looking to gain traction. Brown doesn't like being considered a "spoiler."
"I mean, how could you spoil something that's so rotten and putrid to begin with? And I mean the corrupt two-party system," said Brown.
Brown is counting on Paxton and Talarico exchanging more campaign ad body blows. If those campaign ads add to the voter discontent, Brown will try to slip in between the two mainstream candidates.
The best that Brown has done in the polling is about 3% in last month's survey by Texas Southern. However, that survey was done before the latest Paxton ad blitz blasting Talarico’s progressive voting record. The unknown regarding how deep voter discontent is currently is why Brown remains optimistic in his pitch to voters.
"So, I don't think it's wasting your vote or throwing your vote away. As long as you're voting for either for principles that you believe in or to make a statement that you just don't like the way the system is being handled," said Brown.
A recent Washington Times report indicated that Brown is attracting mostly moderate Republicans, but he is also reaching out to moderate Democrats.
Big picture view:
FOX 4 Dallas' political reporter Steven Dial doesn’t think 2026 is a moment for the third party but more party extremism.
"I think this is a year that is primed for some type of change, some type of big shift that might last for a while," said Dial.
The shift could be a longer hold on power by the Democrats, but Dial said the GOP could counter that with a step back from the MAGA trademark.
"Will some Republicans after this midterm now start to go back to being a different type of Republican and not just a Trump loyalist," said Dial.
Greg Groogan, with FOX 26 Houston, is expecting any voter swing will remain within the two parties.
"My guess is about half of the pro-Cornyn and never Paxton portion of the Republican base will get clawed, you know, reluctantly back into the conservative fold with the argument, we're not electing your next pastor. But for the other half, the Talarico is Mamdani and sheep's clothing messaging will not change their minds about Paxton's long history of moral and ethical violations. And they'll likely just skip the race entirely in protest," said Groogan.
The Source: Information in this report comes from an interview with US Senate Libertarian candidate Ted Brown.