LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Voters in Texas and North Carolina are weighing in on some of the first contests of this year's midterm elections.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah. Today is the last day of voting in those states. Both have expensive and closely watched Senate primary races that can tell us a lot more about the direction of each party.
FADEL: Here to talk to us about all this is NPR's political correspondent Ashley Lopez. Good morning, Ashley.
ASHLEY LOPEZ, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: Why is there so much attention on these two Senate seats?
LOPEZ: I mean, a big reason why is that there aren't really that many competitive House races. That's true most years, but because both these states redistricted last year, there are even fewer competitive seats this time around. So the Senate races are really where the fight is, and ultimately where you can maybe draw some insights into what voters in each party may be looking for at the start of this midterm season.
FADEL: OK, let's start with Texas, where both parties see the Senate contest as a kind of litmus test. What should we know about the Democratic race?
LOPEZ: Sure. So the front-runners in that race are Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico, who is a state lawmaker from the Austin area. Going into this, Crockett was perhaps the most well-known candidate of the two. In her time in Congress, she's been known for, like, verbally sparring with Republicans in the House. A common complaint about the Democratic Party from its base voters is that party leaders have been weak in their response to Trump since he took office again, and Crockett has positioned herself as a fighter.
FADEL: OK. Crockett has positioned herself as a fighter. And Talarico?
LOPEZ: Yeah. Well, Talarico has said he sees himself as a fighter too, but his style is definitely different. When he was first elected to the Texas House, he flipped a traditionally Republican seat, and a big part of how he campaigns is trying not to alienate independent and even conservative voters in some cases. He's a seminarian, so he invokes his Christian faith a lot, which could appeal to some voters Democrats don't typically speak to.
So I think just in terms of personalities and the way these two candidates talk are pretty different, but I don't think what they are actually saying is all that different because when it comes to most issues and policies, Crockett and Talarico largely agree.
FADEL: OK, let's turn to the Republican side of this. Incumbent Senator John Cornyn is running for reelection. What kind of argument are his opponents making?
LOPEZ: Yeah, so this primary is centered around the question of which Republican is the most Trump-aligned. Cornyn was elected in 2002, which his opponents say make him like a conservative from a different time, although Cornyn often points out that he votes with Trump consistently. Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general for the past decade, is his most formidable opponent, and he has been mired in legal troubles for years, but he has said that, like Trump, most of that has been political. The other Republican running is Congressman Wesley Hunt, who has been polling third in the race but garnering enough support that, I mean, it is likely this race could head to a runoff.
FADEL: OK, let's quickly talk about North Carolina. What should we watch out for there?
LOPEZ: So this is an open seat in the Senate being vacated by Thom Tillis. Tillis has been one of the few elected Republicans in Congress who has openly criticized Trump. In response, Trump had threatened to get someone to primary Tillis, but the Senator chose to retire instead, which, I mean, at this point, has become a common story in the Trump era.
So this has presented Democrats with a decent shot of flipping a Republican seat. The front-runner is former Governor Roy Cooper. He's got a lot of name recognition and has proved he can win statewide multiple times. The front-runner for Republicans is former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. The last time a Democrat won a Senate seat in the state was in 2008, so it's been a while. But if Democrats want to win back power in the Senate, this is one of their better shots, as well as a must-win for them.
FADEL: That's NPR's political correspondent Ashley Lopez. Thank you, Ashley.
LOPEZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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