TX Democrats’ Austin-Based Candidates Struggle To Appeal To Rest Of State

Four of the Texas Democratic Party’s top five statewide candidates in the 2026 midterms are from Austin. The fifth one lives in Dallas, but attorney general candidate Nathan Johnson is a state senator, so he spends a lot of time in the capital city.

The rest of the Austin slate includes U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, Governor Greg Abbott’s challenger Gina Hinojosa, Vikki Goodwin running for lieutenant governor, and comptroller candidate Sarah Eckhardt. Republicans say the Democrats’ liberal Austin ties put them out of touch with most of Texas.