Talarico vs. Paxton Texas Senate race tightens as new poll drops
A new poll places Paxton behind Talarico, with the gap narrowing when undecided voters are asked which way they lean.

SOURCE CHECK
TAP FOR WHYCredibility rates Abilene Reporter-News, which republished this story. The other scores rate the article itself.
Yahoo News is an established national news publisher, and the page identifies the article as originally appearing on USA TODAY. The underlying reporting is attributed, though the page provides no author information of its own.
- Source type — Established national news publisher.
- Transparency — Identifies USA TODAY as the original publisher.
- Author attribution — The article gives no author byline in the supplied page text.
The article reports poll dates, sample sizes, margins of error and results, and provides comparisons with other September polls. It offers little information about the polling methodology or the pollster, limiting readers' ability to assess the results.
HOW WE SCORE ↗The article includes results for both candidates and comparisons with multiple prior polls. It does not provide further context about the poll's methodology or include candidate responses.
- Source diversity — Lists results from several polling organizations, while the main poll's methodology is not detailed.
- Counterarguments presented — Reports figures for both candidates but includes no candidate responses.
The article presents polling figures in neutral language and does not express a discernible preference between the candidates.
- Language tone — Uses neutral descriptions of leads and margins.
- Framing — Reports the new poll alongside several earlier polls.
Republished
Republished from USA Today. The relationship between the two publishers has not been determined.
15 stories · 79–83 · updated Oct 7, 2026
This is USA Today's own score, and this article is credited to USA Today. The host score in the Source Check is Abilene Reporter-News's.
A new Texas Senate poll found James Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton, though the gap narrowed when undecided voters were asked which candidate they leaned toward. The article also lists several earlier September polls showing Talarico narrowly ahead.
A BIG DATA POLL conducted Sept. 24–26 found Talarico leading Paxton 43.6% to 39.3% among registered voters and 44.6% to 41.6% among likely voters. When undecided voters were asked which candidate they leaned toward, the reported leads narrowed to 46.4% to 43.8% among registered voters and 46.8% to 44.9% among likely voters. The poll surveyed 793 registered voters and 698 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for both groups.
The article lists seven other September polls, each of which showed Talarico ahead of Paxton, with leads ranging from one to five percentage points.
Community verdict
VOTING CLOSEDNo good or bad look here
This story reports what happened without casting Paxton in a good or bad light, so readers don’t rate it and it doesn’t count toward Paxton’s record.
People in this story
SWIPE →Democratic candidate in the Texas U.S. Senate race
Talarico's version of this story ↗Part of a bigger story
11 OUTLETSOutlets report polls putting James Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, though the reported margins vary. Left-leaning outlets portray Paxton as facing campaign trouble, with one focusing on a campaign-post error and the other on polling and Republican concern. Center outlets mostly emphasize poll results and voter expectations, while also covering criticism of Paxton's campaign tactics. Right-leaning outlets pair reports of Talarico's lead with criticism of his views and potential vulnerabilities.
- ARTICLES
- 15
- OUTLETS
- 11
- AVG CRED
- 66
- Yahoo News · Talarico vs. Paxton Texas Senate race tightens as new poll drops
- We Got This Covered · Talarico's lead on Paxton is growing as midterm approaches, and it's up to 5 points, according to latest Texas Senate race poll
- Washington Examiner · Talarico holds 5-point lead over Paxton in Texas Senate race, poll shows
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