The 2026 Texas election includes major decisions over who leads the state, who represents Texas in the U.S. Senate, and who runs Harris County, along with a Houston ballot measure involving policing policies.
The campaigns have also raised questions about property taxes, schools, healthcare, affordability, border security, data centers, campaign money, and the claims appearing in political ads.
We’ve gathered the reporting on those races and issues in one place so voters can compare candidates, examine campaign claims, and dig deeper into what’s on the ballot.
Taxes. Schools. Healthcare. Border security. Data centers. Affordability.
Those are among the issues Texas voters raised when we asked what matters most to them in the 2026 election.
Our statewide election guide brings together the positions of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat Gina Hinojosa in the governor’s race, as well as Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race.
Abbott and Hinojosa differ on issues including property taxes, education, healthcare and data-center policy. Paxton and Talarico have outlined different approaches to affordability, campaign finance, artificial intelligence, data centers and energy.
Libertarian Pat Dixon is also running for governor, while Libertarian Ted Brown is running for U.S. Senate.
Campaign promises can sound straightforward. Putting them into practice can be much more complicated.
In the U.S. Senate race, Paxton’s economic proposal includes federal tax deductions for certain medical expenses, a first-home down payment and some health-related spending. He has also proposed doubling the child tax credit. Those changes would require congressional approval.
Talarico has called for banning corporate PACs and super PACs, prohibiting members of Congress from trading individual stocks, overturning Citizens United and ending partisan gerrymandering nationwide. Those proposals would also require action beyond one senator.
In the governor’s race, Abbott has proposed eliminating school district property taxes on homesteads while having the state replace the lost school funding.
Hinojosa has proposed sending $1,500 to Texas households using money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. That plan would require approval from state lawmakers. She has also proposed changes involving electricity rates, data centers and public education.
The next test for whoever wins will be what actually happens: what gets proposed, what lawmakers approve and what ultimately changes for Texans.
Candidate fundraising only tells part of the story in the U.S. Senate race.
Federal Election Commission data reviewed by ENOUGH showed Talarico raised $140.3 million through his campaign between Jan. 1, 2025, and Oct. 14, 2026, compared with $21.6 million raised by Paxton during the same period.
Outside groups add another layer. Super PACs cannot donate directly to candidates or coordinate with their campaigns, but they can raise and spend unlimited amounts to support or oppose candidates.
We looked at two claims appearing in ads involving Paxton and Talarico and compared them with legislative records, campaign-finance filings and the sources cited by the ads themselves.
One outside-group ad claimed Talarico supported putting parents in jail over decisions involving transgender children. KPRC 2’s review of the legislative hearing cited by the ad found Talarico did not say parents should be arrested and did not discuss jailing parents for refusing gender-affirming surgery.
A Talarico campaign ad linked Paxton to data-center tax breaks and nearly $500,000 in campaign contributions.
Our review found Paxton did vote for a 2013 data-center tax incentive, but the campaign-finance figure included a broader group of donors who invest in, build or operate data centers and required additional context.
The statewide races are not the only consequential choices on Houston-area ballots.
ENOUGH asked Democrat Letitia Plummer and Republican Orlando Sanchez the same questions in separate interviews about property taxes, public safety, Flock cameras, and flooding. Several of those questions came directly from viewers.
Sanchez said he would lower the county property tax rate in his first budget, though he did not specify by how much. Plummer said she would look for savings while protecting county programs but did not commit to lowering the rate in her first budget.
You can also watch the full individual interviews with both candidates.
Houston voters will also decide Proposition A.
The charter amendment combines two policing issues into one yes-or-no vote. It would ban HPD officers from requesting or executing no-knock search warrants and make Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession the department’s lowest law-enforcement priority.
It would not legalize marijuana.
Voters cannot approve one portion and reject the other. A “yes” vote approves the entire charter amendment, while a “no” vote rejects it.
Texas entered this election with more than 19 million registered voters, a new state record, according to the Texas Secretary of State.
ENOUGH also talked with Houston-area voters about what was driving them to the polls, from education and immigration to the economy and a desire for change.
ENOUGH also looked at what it takes to become an election worker in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, and Galveston counties.
Requirements and pay depend on the position and county. Texas also has a student election-clerk program for qualifying students who are at least 16 on Election Day.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can use VoteTexas.gov to confirm their registration, find polling information, and review voter ID requirements.
And ENOUGH’s election reporting does not stop when the polls close.
We’ll continue tracking the promises made during the campaign, the policies the winners pursue, and what those decisions ultimately mean for Texas.
