🥊 Talarico to face Paxton after runoff

Paxton Bests Cornyn

Voters chose Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, to be Texas’ Republican nominee for U.S. Senate on Tuesday night. Paxton was President Donald Trump’s pick for the nomination and he will face Democratic nominee James Talarico, a state lawmaker, in November. [The Texas Tribune]

• Incumbent John Cornyn, who has been one of Texas’ two senators since 2002, spoke to reporters after the race was called and said he planned to support Paxton in November. [The Associated Press]

Congressional District 37 Race Is Set

Lauren B. Peña won the Republican runoff in the race to represent Texas’ 37th congressional district, which includes most of Austin. She will face Congressman Greg Casar in November. The district is currently represented by Congressman Lloyd Doggett. [The New York Times]

• Doggett announced in December that he would not run again for District 37 after Texas Republicans redrew the state’s congressional maps, moving Casar’s District 35 completely out of Austin. [City Cast Austin]

Tovo Is Out

Montserrat Garibay, a labor leader and educator, defeated Kathie Tovo, a longtime Austin City Council member, in the race for Texas House District 49. No Republicans ran to represent the district, which covers a large swath of the city including parts of Central Austin and North and South Austin. [Austin American-Statesman]

• This seat was previously held by Gina Hinojosa, who is now the Democratic nominee for Texas governor. [KXAN]

Travis County Voter Turnout Nearly Hits 10%

Just 9.63% of Travis County’s 927,735 registered voters cast a ballot in the primary runoff election, data from the Travis County Clerk’s office shows. [Travis County Clerk]