The Texas Senate race is set to be a close, grinding contest. And one overlooked candidate could tip the whole thing over.
Nearly all the attention so far has gone to the two major parties. The GOP nominee, state attorney general Ken Paxton, defeated four-term incumbent senator John Cornyn in a primary runoff last month with nearly 64 percent of the vote. It was a blowout, but Paxton’s chances in the general election are far from certain. A recent poll showed his Democratic opponent, state representative James Talarico, ahead by 3 points. Another poll, conducted before the GOP runoff, showed a tie. At this rate, Paxton can’t afford to lose a single vote—and Ted Brown is likely to take a few thousand more than that.
Brown, 65, is a retired insurance claims adjuster, a small-government activist, and the Libertarian Party’s Texas nominee for the Senate. This isn’t his first rodeo. He also ran in 2024 and got 2.4 percent of the vote. It didn’t matter, because incumbent Ted Cruz was able to beat his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, by more than 8 points. But now, in 2026, it’s possible that a similar showing by Brown could cost Republicans the election. And Brown doesn’t feel sorry about it.
