The latest results from Tuesday's primary elections in North Carolina and Texas
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas all held primaries Tuesday - the first of the 2026 midterms. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is here with some more results. We'll get back to the Lone Star State in just a moment, but now let's go to the Tar Heel State - North Carolina. What did we learn there?
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Well, the Senate race there is now set. You know, it's Republican Michael Whatley, who's a former Trump Republican National Committee chairman, and he's going against Democrat Roy Cooper, who's the state's former governor. Cooper getting in the race was seen as a really big get for Democrats. Last night, he focused his message on prices but also said this.
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ROY COOPER: I'll be a strong, independent senator who will work with this president when I can and stand up to him when the people need me to.
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MONTANARO: So work with the president when he can, he said, and stand up to him when necessary. And you didn't hear him mention he's a Democrat. (Laughter) That's a very fine line Cooper's trying to walk in trying to flip this seat.
MARTÍNEZ: All right, now back to Texas and Democrat James Talarico's big primary win.
MONTANARO: Yeah. I mean, it's a very different race. Both Talarico and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, who he defeated, are both very progressive. You know, Democrats are hoping that Talarico's measured tone mixed with his populist message on affordability can win over moderates in a state like Texas. But that's going to be a really difficult thing to do because it's really been something of a white whale - a bit of a Lucy and the football from Charlie Brown, if you will.
MARTÍNEZ: And we heard about the runoff for Republicans in Texas - a matchup between Senator John Cornyn, who has the seat right now, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
MONTANARO: Right, and Paxton is really seen as the more MAGA firebrand. But really, there's one person here who's going to be key above all else, and it's neither of these candidates. Here's Senator John Cornyn in his speech last night.
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JOHN CORNYN: The final two years of President Trump's agenda hangs in the balance. I'm proud to have supported President Trump and worked with him to help him achieve his goals in the Congress.
MONTANARO: OK. And here's Paxton talking about Cornyn.
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KEN PAXTON: For too long he stabbed our president in the back by trying to derail his presidential campaigns and supporting the Democrats' lawfare against the president.
MONTANARO: Get the drift here? You know...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, yeah.
MONTANARO: ...Either (laughter) candidate would love President Trump's backing, but he has not endorsed anyone, saying he liked all the candidates in this primary.
MARTÍNEZ: And speaking of incumbents, Dan Crenshaw lost. I mean, does that foretell anything about this race?
MONTANARO: Right. The congressman in Texas who sometimes got in trouble with other conservatives, even though he was pretty conservative himself - he lost by double digits. And, you know, this wasn't just something that was just, you know, an issue with Crenshaw. We're seeing a lot of incumbents right now seem to be in trouble. You know, there were other candidates throughout Texas and North Carolina who are closer than they would have liked to be and results that still aren't even finished yet. And the best job security in politics used to be being an incumbent. But, you know, maybe it makes some sense that with the kind of volatility we're seeing right now in politics that people are increasingly skeptical of politics, politicians and U.S. institutions. Maybe we'll see more of this kind of thing.
MARTÍNEZ: You think eventually Trump will get involved?
MONTANARO: You know, I think it's possible that he does wind up putting his finger on the scale here. I mean, this has been a bitter and nasty primary. Seventy million dollars poured in to help John Cornyn. Another 100 million could be spent in the next 12 weeks of this runoff. So if you're Trump looking down the line here, do you really want to spend $100 million of the party to do so on a Senate primary in a state you should win or maybe spend that money on some of those front-line swing House races?
MARTÍNEZ: NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro. Thanks a lot.
MONTANARO: You got it.
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