Talarico leads Paxton as Texas voters rank affordability top concern, poll finds
The latest polling shows Democrat James Talarico leading Republican Ken Paxton by six points in the race to become the state's next senator.
By the numbers:
Texas Public Opinion Research conducted the poll between Aug. 21 and Aug. 24. It surveyed 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3%. While the group describes itself as nonpartisan, it is run by Luke Warford, a Democrat who ran for the Texas Railroad Commission in 2022.
Among those polled, 48% said they were voting for Talarico, compared to 42% putting their support behind Paxton. Libertarian candidate Ted Brown had 1% of those polled. There are still a lot of votes to be earned by the candidates as 7% said they were undecided about the race.
TPOR's poll shows double the lead for Talarico compared to a Texas Politics Project poll from earlier this week that showed the Austin Democrat's lead at just 3%.
Who leads 2026 Texas Senate race? Paxton vs. Talarico poll tracker
Polls have shown the hotly contested U.S. Senate race in Texas is in a dead heat.
Talarico pulls large number of independent voters
Dig deeper:
Thursday's poll shows 51% of independent voters were breaking for Talarico, compared to just 30% for Paxton. Another 14% said they were still undecided.
Talarico is also leading with Black voters, Latino voters, women, younger voters and college-educated voters.
Texans concerned about affordability and cost of living
TPOR asked those polled to choose the two issues they believe are most important for elected officials to prioritize.
Half of those chose affordability and cost of living as either their first choice (30%) or second choice (20%). Health care access and costs were second with 23% of voters listing it as their first or second choice. Economic growth and job creation was third.
When asked, those polled said they felt Talarico would do more to tackle issues with cost-of-living and improve the financial situation of everyday Texans compared to Paxton, 48%-38%.
The Source: Information in this article comes from a Texas Public Opinion Research poll conducted between Aug. 21 and Aug. 24. It surveyed 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3%.