Tuesday’s gubernatorial primaries in Arkansas and Texas proceeded largely as expected with both incumbent governors advancing comfortably towards November. The most competitive action of the night came from North Carolina, where a state senate seat drew a closely watched primary battle.
North Carolina
State Legislature
One of Tuesday’s most heated races was the GOP primary in Senate District 26 between Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and long-time Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. And the race is still not over. With all precincts reporting, the race is close enough – just 2 votes separate the candidates – to trigger a recount.
Berger had not faced a primary challenge in 14 years. President Trump endorsed Berger via Truth Social in December 2025. This came after Trump offered Page a position in his administration in exchange for him to drop out of the Republican primary.
Casino gambling was as a key issue in this primary race. In 2023, Berger was vocally supportive and helped lead a campaign to open brick and mortar casinos in rural areas across North Carolina, including Rockingham County. There was a backlash by residents who did not support the proposal. While running to the right of Berger throughout the primary, Page leaned into the casino opposition.
Limited polling with small sample sizes and wide margins of error did not give any candidate a clear advantage in the race going into Tuesday’s election.
If Page ultimately is successful in ousting the long-time Republican leader, it will set up a power vacuum in Raleigh. Berger has controlled the upper chamber for over a decade, building a durable Republican majority in the state senate, wielding outsized influence and determining what proposals move and what policy fights will be had with both the lower chamber and Democratic governors.
Page has served as Rockingham County Sheriff since 1988. Page’s primary campaign was built on the notion that he would challenge the Raleigh establishment. Page’s key priorities include public safety, education, government transparency, and tax reform.
The recount timeline will be determined by local election officials in the near future.
Arkansas
Governor
Incumbent Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) faced an uncontested GOP gubernatorial primary. First elected in 2022, Sanders is the first woman to serve as governor of the state. Prior to her time as governor, she served as White House Press Secretary for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. She also worked in leadership roles for senators, governors, and presidential campaigns. Sanders’ reelection campaign builds upon her work in office which includes improving the state’s education system, streamlining state government, and strengthening public safety.
Two Democrats, Arkansas State Senator Fred Love and Supha Xayprasith-Mays competed for the Democratic party’s nomination to challenge Sanders in the general election. Love won the Democratic primary with approximately 80% of the vote. Love currently represents District 15 of the Arkansas Senate and previously served in the Arkansas House. His campaign has prioritized economic development, education, public safety and criminal justice reform, and access to healthcare.
The Cook Political Report labeled this race as solid Republican.
Texas
Governor
Greg Abbott is one step closer to making Texas history. The Republican governor cruised putting him on track for a fourth term and potentially the longest gubernatorial run the state has ever seen. Before the Governor's Mansion, he served as a state district judge in Harris County, sat on the Texas Supreme Court, and became the longest-serving attorney general in state history.
Abbott's campaign leans heavily on his record, pointing to increased funding for public schools and border security, small business job growth, and the passage of the Make Texas Healthy Again Act. He’s making property tax reform a centerpiece of his next term, with a particular focus on relief at the local level.
The Democratic primary drew a crowded field of nine candidates vying for the nomination. Texas State Representative Gina Hinojosa emerged as the frontrunner in the weeks leading up to the primary, closing out the night with 58% of the vote. Hinojosa is a five-term legislator and served as a civil rights and labor lawyer. She has built her campaign around affordability, healthcare access, and public education funding. She has also been an outspoken critic of Governor Abbott's school voucher program, which she has cited as a driving factor in her decision to seek the governors’s mansion.
The Cook Political Report has rated this race as solid Republican.
Attorney General
Four Republicans and three Democrats competed to replace incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who declined to run for a fourth term to instead challenge U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s (R) bid for reelection. In the Republican primary, candidates included Texas State Senators Joan Huffman, Mayes Middleton, former Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy Aaron Reitz, and Congressman Chip Roy. While Roy had maintained a lead in polling up to the primary, he will go to a runoff with Middleton which is scheduled for May 26.
Roy was first elected to the U.S. House in 2018, previously serving as Texas’ First Assistant Attorney General under Paxton. During his tenure in Congress, Roy has clashed with Republicans, including President Trump, over his opposition to federal spending bills and efforts to raise the debt ceiling. He was also one of the few Texas Republicans willing to certify the 2020 election results and opposed a lawsuit brought by Paxton to overturn election results in four states. Despite clashes with Paxton over the years, Roy is campaigning on continuing Paxton’s legacy, saying the two share similar worldviews. If elected to the office, priorities for Roy include support for law enforcement, a secure southern border, election security, and “defeating the woke agenda.”
Middleton is one of the legislature’s most culturally conservative lawmakers, serving as the former chair of the Texas House Freedom Caucus, and positioning himself as “MAGA Mayes” throughout the primary. During his time in the Texas Legislature, he authored and passed the Save Women’s Sports Act and the strongest ban on COVID vaccines in the country. Middleton has pledged to aggressively enforce President Trump’s border security agenda and deportation orders, focus on public safety, and – similar to his runoff opponent – “shut down the woke left’s radical gender agenda.”
On the Democratic side, candidates included former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Box, Texas State Senator Nathan Johnson, and Joe Jaworski. As of this publication, Johnson has approximately 49% of the vote, meaning he is 1% shy of the margin of victory needed to avoid the May runoff. The state is still counting. If this goes to a runoff, he will likely face former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski. Johnson has served since 2019, representing a rapidly growing part of Dallas County. Johnson practices law at Thompson Coburn LLP, where he specializes in trial litigation and dispute resolution. Priorities for Johnson’s AG campaign include consumer protection, crime and public safety, and opposition to Trump’s agenda.
Comptroller
Four Republicans – including current officeholder Kelly Hancock – were on the ballot to secure the Republican party’s nomination for Comptroller of Public Accounts. Hancock was appointed by Governor Abbott to serve as acting comptroller until the election after the former comptroller resigned to become chancellor of the Texas A&M University System in July 2025.
Former state senator Donald Huffines (R) secured the party’s nomination with approximately 58% of the vote. He served in the legislature from 2015 to 2019, having built a long career in commercial brokerage and real-estate development. Endorsed by President Trump and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Huffines aligns himself closely with the Trump agenda and vows to “DOGE” Texas government, oppose DEI programs in government, and resist tax breaks for “woke” out-of-state corporations and green energy subsidies.
Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt won the Democratic party’s nomination with approximately 64% of the vote. Eckhardt served as the Travis County Commissioners Court Judge from 2014 to 2020 before stepping down to run in a special election for Texas State Senate District 14, a seat she has occupied since. She also served for eight years as a prosecutor with the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Eckhardt says she is running to restore trust and accountability in government, citing her experience taking on corruption as a county prosecutor.
State Legislature
Beyond the executive office races, 16 of the 31 Texas Senate seats are on the ballot, along with all 150 seats in the Texas House. The house is expected to see notable turnover this cycle, with 21 representatives either retiring or seeking higher office. In the senate, Republican Robert Nichols, the chamber’s longest-serving member, has announced his will not seek another term.