What the Texas primaries could reveal about the midterms

NOTE: If you are short on time, watch the video and complete this See, Think, Wonder activity: What did you notice? What did the story make you think about? What would you want to learn more about?

SUMMARY

Early voting is underway in Texas, a key state in the battle for control of the House and Senate. State Rep. James Talarico and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett are two of a handful of Democrats running to flip the state’s Senate seat blue this fall as longtime Sen. John Cornyn faces a challenging primary to remain the Republican candidate on the ballot. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Ashley Lopez of NPR.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the News Hour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

1. Who are some of the candidates running in the Republican and Democratic primary in Texas for U.S. Senate?
2. Why has the Democratic primary race become more contentious (controversial), according to Ashley Lopez?
3. What might be some of the effects of Texas’ new redistricting plan on elections across the state?
4. How could the Texas race be an indicator for how the midterm elections might go this fall, according to Lopez?
5. When are the primaries for the Texas Senate seat s/et to be held? When is the midterm election scheduled for this fall?

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

• Why do you think the primaries are particularly important to base voters (people who are active and follow politics closely)?
• Texas Democrats are trying to flip the state blue (blue is the color associated with Democrats; red is the color associated with Republicans) in the 2026 midterms. Do you live in a state in which the incumbent (the person who previously won the race and currently holds the office) is facing a serious challenge? Why do you think incumbents traditionally have much stronger chances of winning their elections?

Media literacy: There are often several candidates who run in primaries. This piece mentioned a handful of those candidates. How could you find out who else is running?

WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO

Read What to know about how the SAVE America Act could change voting by News Hour’s Joshua Barajas. He writes, “The Trump-backed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE America Act, seeks to address the president’s longstanding demands to ‘fix’ U.S. elections that he says are ‘rigged’ and ‘stolen,’ despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud.”

• Discuss with a family member or neighbor what identification, if any, they had to provide at the polls when they started to vote. Ask them if requirements changed over the years, and how did they felt about those changes? Do you think it is the federal government’s role to dictate voting laws when those decisions have been traditionally left up to the states?
• Do you live in a state that doesn’t require an ID at the polls to vote? Check here.

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