Real Estate Favorites Head to Runoff In Texas Senate Primary

4 March 2026

Primary election night in Texas was anticlimactic for the megadonors from real estate, who overwhelmingly contribute to Republicans.

After industry titans poured over $1 million into the Texas primary elections — mostly to the Republican U.S. Senate primary — a forced runoff means they’ll have to do it all over again.

The Senate primary election has already been crowned the most expensive primary in history, with candidates spending over $110 million in the race that saw state Rep. James Talarico face off against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

And it’s not over yet. Republicans Cornyn and Paxton are headed to a runoff on May 26. Here are the rest of the results from last night.

U.S. Senate

Neither Cornyn nor Paxton secured the 50 percent threshold needed to win the primary.

Cornyn narrowly led with 41.9 percent of the vote, and Paxton came in second with 40.7 percent, according to NBC. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt is out of the race after netting 13 percent of the vote.

It’s been an unusually bruising race for Cornyn, who’s held his seat since 2002. While Hunt got a few big donations, members of the largely Republican real estate industry in Texas split for the most part between Cornyn and Paxton.

The biggest donation in the Senate primaries, including both parties, by a real estate donor was a $66,000 gift to Cornyn from John Carona, founder of Dallas-based property management firm Associa. Cornyn also had the support of Lucy Billingsley, Ross Perot Jr. and David Weekly Homes co-founder Richard Weekley.

Paxton received donations from North Texas developers Rex Glendenning and Mehrdad Moayedi.

Those donors now have to assess which of the two candidates — the career Senate fixture or his MAGA challenger — is better equipped to face state Rep. James Talarico in the general election.

Talarico conclusively beat congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary with 52.4 percent of the vote. Fewer industry members donated in the Democratic race, but those who did include Faisal Halum, a highly ranked Compass agent in Dallas who gave Talarico $1,000, and George Billingsley, a member of the Crow-Billingsley dynasty who gave him $3,500.

Compared to other races on the ballot, the ultimate winner of the general election for Senate will have less of an influence on Texas real estate. However, the candidates brought several industry issues to the forefront.

Cornyn and Paxton have both scrutinized the Islam-centered development in North Texas formerly called EPIC City, raising questions about faith-based developments in general. Cornyn has also called for more critical attention to Chinese real estate investment, an issue that eventually materialized into a new Texas law banning real property purchases for entities based in China and other countries deemed hostile. The Texas attorney general — for now, Paxton — is tasked with enforcing that law.

Talarico and Crockett both prioritized housing affordability as campaign issues. Talarico has taken an abundance tack, touting his support for Texas legislative bills meant to increase the supply of apartments and condos. He co-sponsored SB 840, a state law that permits residential development by right in nonresidential zones.

Attorney General

The four-way Republican primary for Texas attorney general narrowed on Tuesday night to congressman Chip Roy and state Sen. Mayes Middleton. Paxton’s protege Aaron Reitz and state Sen. Joan Huffman were eliminated. Middleton led with 39.1 percent of the vote, and Roy came in second place with 31.6 percent.

Roy and Middleton have both focused on banning people from countries deemed to pose security risks to the U.S. from purchasing Texas real estate.

Roy received $25,000 from resi developer Phillip Huffines, the twin brother of comptroller candidate Don Huffines, and $10,000 from Timmerman Capital founder Timothy Timmerman.

Middleton’s biggest real estate donations were $10,000 gifts from Alliance Residential COO Brian Austin and Dallas commercial real estate broker Ryan Keiser, who formerly worked for the Trammell Crow Company.

The Democratic primary is still too early to call, per NBC. Nathan Johnson is leading with 48.1 percent of the vote. Joe Jaworski has 26.4 percent. Johnson needs 50 percent to avoid a runoff.

Comptroller

The Republican primary for comptroller was also a battleground race, but it ended without a runoff.

Don Huffines, a former state senator and previous contender for governor, won with over 57 percent of the vote. His closest opponent, Kelly Hancock, had 23.6 percent of the vote.

Huffines is a conservative ideologue, having challenged Gov. Greg Abbott from the right in 2022. From a real estate family (his brother Phillip is president of Huffines Communities), Huffines was recently revealed as the buyer of the notorious Zorro ranch, formerly owned by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Huffines’ most prominent donors in real estate include Allie Beth Allman and Moayedi, who contributed $2,000 and $50,000, respectively.

State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt secured the Democratic nomination, receiving 64.1 percent of the vote. Her opponents, Savant Moore and Michael Lange, netted 19.1 and 16.8 percent of the vote, respectively. Eckhardt’s lone contribution in 2025 from a real estate donor was $5,081 from Austin developer Perry Lorenz.