How close is the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico?

BBC chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue reported the Texas Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico as neck and neck and too close to call. That is striking because Donald Trump won Texas by 14 points two years earlier and Democrats have not won a Texas Senate seat in nearly 40 years. Around $570 million has been spent on advertising alone.

• O'Donoghue called it the most expensive non-presidential race in American history.
• Trump has nationalised the race, so a Republican loss would be read as a verdict on his record.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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