Will the Texas primary run-off give Democrats a chance to flip the state?

Voters in Texas head to the polls on Tuesday for the Republican run-off in the highly contentious US Senate primary between the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and John Cornyn, the incumbent, who has represented Texas in the US Senate since 2002.

Whoever wins the runoff will advance to November’s midterm elections, where they will face the Democratic nominee, James Talarico.
Democrats have not held a statewide seat in Texas since 1994, but races have become increasingly tight over the last decade. Paxton, who is the likely Republican nominee, is considered less likely to fare well against Talarico in the general election.

Why is Texas now competitive when it has not been in the past? Al Jazeera analysed why changes could be on the way for Texas in November.

Who are the candidates?
Ken Paxton, 63, is the Republican attorney general of Texas, who was endorsed by Trump in a lengthy post on the president’s social media platform, Truth Social. The longtime Trump ally has been known to take on Big Tech companies, including Facebook in 2022 – for allegedly using Texas biometric data without prior consent – and Netflix earlier this month.

Paxton has also made border security a core part of his platform, saying he wants to finish building Trump’s border wall with Mexico. He has also pledged to cut taxes while investing in cryptocurrency development.

In his endorsement of Paxton, Trump said that the other contender, John Cornyn, was not supportive of him when “times were tough”.