Welcome back to Beyond the Polls. This week we'll dive deep into the lone star state's voluminous primary season with the Dallas Morning News's Gromer Jeffers. Let's dive in.

Well, Texas does have an outsized place in our merit politics and certainly got off to a big start in this cycle by being the state that kicked off the redistricting wars.

But there's a lot more going down in the Lone Star State.

And here to break down the voluminous primaries for us is the senior political writer at the Dallas Morning News, Gromer Jeffers.

Gromer, welcome to be on the polls.

I'm excited to be here.

Well, let's start with the Big Kahuna, the Republican Senate primary,

the three-way race between the disgrace but popular Ken Paxton, Attorney General,

the incumbent John Corny, and Wesley Hunt, a two Paxton, Attorney General, the incumbent John Cornyn, and Wesley Hunt,

a two-term, I believe, congressman from the Houston area who's kind of decided that maybe

he can grab a seat while these two people fight it out. What's going on in this race?

Yeah, it's really interesting. Wesley Hunt, the last to get it in, and his entry into this race pretty much assures that

it will be a runoff.

I mean, he's polling well enough to push, you know, Cornyn and Paxton, who right now,

believe it or not, are in kind of a dead heat to push them into a runoff.

You know, this has been a fascinating race because when Paxton first announced, you know,

maybe a year and a half ago, whenever it was, he, it was, he became the frontrunner because

it was believed that since in the Republican primary, especially in Texas, the most

conservative voters participate and dominate that process, that it will be easy for him.

But Cornyn spent the summer and millions of dollars like pounding Paxton over the air and just

social media and everywhere. And he brought those poll numbers down for Paxton over the air and just social media and everywhere.

And he brought those poll numbers down for Paxton.

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