Here's the latest
• At the polls: Today’s primaries kick off an eight-month marathon to the midterms, delivering a verdict not just on President Donald Trump’s second term but on how both parties see themselves and their futures.
• Marquee Texas races: Incumbent GOP Sen. John Cornyn faces perhaps the toughest challenge of his career from Attorney General Ken Paxton and US Rep. Wesley Hunt, with the top two heading to a runoff if no one secures a majority. On the Democratic side, US Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are battling in a high-profile fight.
• Under a cloud: Also in Texas, GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales faces a tough challenge from Brandon Herrera amid allegations the congressman had an affair with a senior staffer who later died by suicide.
• Other states: In North Carolina, Democrat Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley are expected to advance to a matchup for US Senate. And in Arkansas, a man is running for local sheriff after being charged with murder.
Today's Texas primary could determine which party controls the next Senate
CNN’s Manu Raju breaks down the three Republican candidates vying for a Senate seat in Texas and how the primary could determine the next Senate majority.
Here's when polls close in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas
We’ll start to see the first votes from the crucial Texas primary at 8 p.m. ET, when polls close in most of the state.
However, the western edge of Texas, including El Paso, is in a different time zone, so polls there don’t close until 9 p.m. ET.
While every election night is slightly different, vote reporting in Texas typically starts pretty quickly. In November 2024, more than half of the vote was reported in the first hour, largely as counties reported votes from early and mail ballots. Nearly 90% of the vote was in by midnight and very little vote was left to report after Wednesday morning.
The first results of the 2026 primary season will come from North Carolina, where all polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET. In November 2024, less than a fifth of the vote was in by 8:30 p.m., but more than half had been reported by 9:30 p.m., and more than 90% at midnight. By 2:30 a.m. ET, nearly all the vote had been reported.
All polls in Arkansas close an hour later at 8:30 p.m. ET. About a quarter of the vote was reported in the first hour in 2024 and more than 90% was in by midnight.
Talarico talks about November surprise in Texas for Democrats. First he must beat Crockett
It may sound like James Talarico is getting ahead of himself when he talks about delivering an election night surprise in November, right here in Texas, where a Democratic senator has not been elected in his lifetime.
Yet he insists he’s not being boastful or presumptuous, but rather sharing a central piece of his argument in the final days of a fiery Democratic primary.
All of that, of course, would come only if he wins a fiercely competitive Democratic primary today against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, which remains something of an uphill climb.
The contest is one of the party’s first big tests of the midterm election year – closely watched as a measure of enthusiasm and as a guidepost for Democrats seeking to rebuild and find their way back to power.
Read more about the Talarico vs Crockett showdown
Texas State Rep. James Talarico is running for the US Senate and argues his message of 'uniting' can win over voters from the left and the right and help him with the Democratic primary in the conservative state. CNN's Jeff Zeleny spoke with Talarico ahead of the March 3 primary.
What to watch in today's state primaries
All eyes will be on Texas as the midterms kick off in earnest today with the first primaries of the year.
TEXAS
The two Texas Senate primaries will be the evening’s marquee races.
On the Republican side, Sen. John Cornyn is in the fight of his political life against state Attorney General Ken Paxton and US Rep. Wesley Hunt in a race that could be headed for a runoff on May 26. Meanwhile, the Democratic race between Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico has primary voters deciding between competing styles and strategies.
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina will host another of the year’s most contested Senate races. Tonight will set the stage for that contest, with the primaries expected to formalize a matchup between Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.
There are several House primaries to watch, with incumbents facing serious challengers in Texas and North Carolina and primaries that will set up competitive contests in November.
Polls close in North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. ET, in Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. ET and in Texas at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET.
