Morning Digest: Talarico wins Democratic Senate nod as nasty GOP race goes to second round

Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton will keep slugging out for almost three more months

Texas state Rep. James Talarico, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. (Credit: James Talarico Facebook.)

Leading Off

TX-Sen (D & R) (56-42 Trump)

Texas state Rep. James Talarico secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, while Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton will face off in the May 26 Republican primary runoff.

Talarico holds a 53-46 lead over Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with the Associated Press estimating that 92% of the vote has been tabulated as of Wednesday morning.

The margin could shift as more votes are counted, but Talarico’s victory is not in doubt. Crockett conceded on Wednesday and called for Democrats to “rally around our nominee.”

Cornyn has a 42-41 edge over Paxton, which is well short of the majority of the vote that either of them needed to avert a runoff. Rep. Wesley Hunt is in a distant third place with 14%, while five minor candidates divide up the remaining votes.

Both primaries attracted massive amounts of money and attention, and not just from their own party.

Republicans like Gov. Greg Abbott sought to help Crockett, in the apparent belief that she’d be the easier candidate to beat in the general election. Talarico and his allies, though, far outspent the congresswoman’s side.

Cornyn and his backers, likewise, deployed over $70 million on advertisements, including on commercials labeling the scandal-ridden attorney general a “wife-cheater and fraud.” AdImpact, by contrast, estimates that Paxton’s side spent just over $4 million.

Donald Trump remained stubbornly neutral during the first round, and just about everyone is watching to see if he’ll take sides in the nearly three months to go before Cornyn and Paxton’s second bout.

But the Senate race was far from the only notable result on the first primary night of the 2026 election cycle.

Below is a state-by-state summary of where things stood as of 8:45 AM ET in all of the major contests. All race calls and estimates of how much of the vote that has been tabulated come from the Associated Press unless otherwise noted. You can also check out our cheat-sheet that summarizes the outcomes in every key race.

Defeated House Incumbents

TX-02 (R) (61-38 Trump)

Rep. Dan Crenshaw became the first sitting member of Congress to lose reelection this cycle after state Rep. Steve Toth decisively defeated him in the Republican primary.

Toth, a conservative hardliner who has highlighted the incumbent’s many clashes with both far-right House members and Tucker Carlson, overcame the congressman’s big financial edge and beat Crenshaw 56-41. Sen. Ted Cruz backed Toth in the final week of the race over Crenshaw, who was the only Republican in the state’s enormous House delegation who never received an endorsement from Trump.

Toth will be the heavy favorite in November against Shaun Finnie, a wealthy businessman who had the Democratic side to himself, in this district based in the suburbs north of Houston.

Arkansas

AR-02 (R) (57-41 Trump)

Rep. French Hill, the only member of Arkansas’ House delegation to face primary opposition this year, handily turned back consultant Chase McDowell 77-23 after a relatively soft primary win two years ago.

North Carolina

NC-01 (R) (55-44 Trump)

Army veteran Laurie Buckhout will get a second chance at ousting Democratic Rep. Don Davis following her 40-34 primary victory over Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck. North Carolina only requires that candidates win at least 30% of the vote to avoid a May 12 runoff, so Buckhout’s showing was enough for her to win the Republican nomination outright.

Buckhout’s rematch against Davis comes two years after she lost their race for this eastern North Carolina seat by just a 50-48 margin. Since that encounter, however, Republicans gerrymandered the district yet again, pushing it much further to the right. Davis, though, was undeterred and has forged ahead with a bid for a third term.

NC-03 (D) (56-43 Trump)

Because the GOP made the neighboring 1st District redder, Republican Rep. Greg Murphy faces a more difficult-than-expected reelection campaign in the now-bluer—but still conservative—3rd District just to the south. He’ll go up against former state Rep. Raymond Smith, who won the Democratic nod 57-43 over former nonprofit head Allison Jaslow.

NC-04 (D) (72-26 Harris)

Democratic Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a 49.18 to 48.22 edge in her primary rematch against Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, but the AP has not projected a winner here.

Candidates may ask for a recount if the margin between them is within “1% of the total votes cast in the ballot item,” and Allam says she plans to do just that. NC Newsline, though, says there are still provisional ballots and some overseas and military voters to be tabulated, so it’s possible she won’t have this option once the remaining ballots are tabulated.

NC 26th Senate District (R) (60-38 Trump)

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page holds a 2-vote lead over incumbent Phil Berger, who has led the North Carolina state Senate since 2011. Berger told reporters he would wait to see how provisional ballots break before he decides whether to ask for a recount.

NC State House

Three Democrats in the North Carolina House who had a history of siding with the GOP to override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Josh Stein all lost in primaries on Tuesday night, while a fourth Democrat who was ousted for similar behavior two years ago failed in a comeback bid.

The most notorious of the bunch was Rep. Carla Cunningham, who got crushed 70-22 by pastor Rodney Sadler, the recipient of an endorsement from Stein. Cunningham stood out because she was the lone Democrat to back a bill requiring local law enforcement to cooperate more closely with ICE that passed over Stein’s veto.

She was not the only unreliable Democrat to fall, though. Rep. Nasif Majeed lost by a large margin to public health advocate Veleria Levy, who prevailed 69-26. Rep. Shelly Willingham likewise was beaten by minister Patricia Smith 56-44.

Finally, state Rep. Rodney Pierce, who unseated another wayward House Democrat, Michael Wray, by just 34 votes in 2024, defeated him by a wide 64-36 margin.

Two years ago, Democrats managed to break the GOP’s three-fifths supermajority in the gerrymandered state House by just a single seat, but Cunningham, Majeed, and Willingham often made it impossible to sustain Stein’s vetoes. (Republicans hold a supermajority in the Senate.) Should they maintain or increase their numbers this fall, however, Democrats will now have a much better chance of being able to block GOP legislation.

Wake County District Attorney (D) (62-36 Harris)

Former Rep. Wiley Nickel beat prosecutor Sherita Walton 49-30 in the Democratic primary for district attorney of Wake County, the largest county in North Carolina and home of the state capital. Nickel faces no GOP opponent in the general election to replace incumbent Lorrin Freeman, who did not seek a fourth term after alienating numerous fellow Democrats.

Texas

TX-Gov (D) (56-42 Trump)

State Rep. Gina Hinojosa easily defeated former Rep. Chris Bell 59-10 in a busy primary for the right to take on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking a record fourth four-year term.

TX-08 (R) (63-36 Trump)

Attorney Jessica Hart Steinmann, who had Trump’s endorsement in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Morgan Lutrell, turned back minimal opposition for this district north of Houston.

TX-09 (R) (59-40 Trump)

Army veteran Alex Mealer and state Rep. Briscoe Cain will face off in the May primary runoff for an open Democratic-held seat in the Houston area that the GOP radically gerrymandered to make it a near-certain flip.

Mealer, who has Trump’s endorsement, holds a 36-31 advantage over Cain, who has Abbott on his side, with an estimated 91% of the vote in. Steve Stockman, a twice-over ex-congressman and convicted criminal, is a distant third with 16%.

The eventual GOP nominee will take on community organizer Leticia Gutierrez, a Democrat who beat her nearest opponent 54-16.

TX-10 (R) (60-38 Trump)

Attorney Chris Gober secured an outright win in the primary for the seat that Republican Rep. Michael McCaul is not seeking reelection to. Gober, who had Trump, Abbott, and Cruz on his side, defeated businessman Ben Bius 51-14 in a constituency that snakes from the Austin area to include rural areas outside of Houston.

TX-15 (D) (59-41 Trump)

Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, one of the Democrats’ most high-profile House recruits in the nation, scored a decisive 68-32 victory over physician Ada Cuellar, who had criticized Pulido as too conservative. That profile, however, might make him the right fit to unseat Republican Rep. Monica De La Cruz in a red South Texas district that Democrats nevertheless feel offers their best shot at a flip in the Lone Star State.

TX-18 (D) (77-22 Harris)

Reps. ​​Christian Menefee and Al Green appear to have both advanced to a runoff in this Houston-based seat, though the AP has not made a projection here yet. Menefee holds a 46-44 edge over Green with an estimated 94% of the vote tabulated.

TX-19 (R) (75-24 Trump)

Lobbyist Tom Sell secured one of the two runoff spots, but he doesn’t yet know who his opponent will be in the second round.

Sell leads with 40% of the vote, while conservative activist Abraham Enriquez holds a tiny 18.8 to 18.5 edge over businessman Matt Smith. The AP estimates that about 99% of the vote has been tabulated in the primary for the Lubbock area seat that GOP Rep. Jodey Arrington is not seeking reelection to.

TX-21 (R) (60-38 Trump)

Mark Teixeira, a former All-Star first baseman who broke in with the Texas Rangers in the mid-2000s, swatted aside the competition to win the GOP primary for this district, which merges a slice of San Antonio with the Texas Hill Country. Teixeira, who had Trump and Abbott on his side, beat businessman Jason Cahill 61-9.

Teixeira is now likely to become the sixth former MLB player to win election to Congress as he seeks to succeed Rep. Chip Roy, who is headed to a runoff in the race for attorney general.

TX-22 (R) (60-38 Trump)

Retiring Rep. Troy Nehls is now all but certain to be succeeded by his identical twin brother, former Fort Bend County Constable Trever Nehls, who won the GOP primary for this district in the southwestern Houston suburbs and exurbs without breaking a sweat.

TX-23 (R & D) (57-42 Trump)

Far-right “gunfluencer” Brandon Herrera and scandal-ridden Rep. Tony Gonzales will face off in a Republican primary runoff two years after Gonzales narrowly turned Herrera back. Herrera leads the incumbent 43-42, with an underfunded third candidate far behind with 9%.

Attorney Katy Padilla Stout holds a 53-27 lead in the Democratic primary against Santos Limon, a civil engineer who was the 2024 nominee. The AP, however, hasn’t called the race with 87% of the estimated vote tabulated.

This sprawling West Texas seat will be a difficult pickup opportunity for Democrats, but Trump’s declining fortunes with Hispanic voters and the ugly GOP contest could give the eventual nominee an unexpected opening.

TX-29 (D) (65-34 Harris)

Rep. Sylvia Garcia beat former state Rep. Jarvis Johnson 58-36 in a Houston-based seat that Republicans altered as part of their new gerrymander.

TX-30 (D) (73-26 Harris)

Minister Frederick Haynes, who leads a 13,000-member megachurch in Dallas, had little trouble securing the Democratic nomination to succeed one of his parishioners, Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

TX-31 (R) (60-38 Trump)

Longtime Rep. John Carter scored an unimpressive, but not close, 60-10 win over his nearest opponent in a conservative seat outside Austin. (The AP estimates 82% has been tabulated, so the numbers may shift.) Offer Shlomi, who is best known as the TV pitchman for the ShamWow and the Slap Chop, took a distant sixth place with just 4%.

TX-32 (R) (58-40 Trump)

Attorney Jace Yarbrough leads pastor Ryan Binkley 49-22 with an estimated 87% in, which is just below the majority he needs to avoid a runoff. Yarbrough has Trump and Abbott’s support for an open Democratic-held seat around Dallas that the GOP radically transformed.

TX-33 (D) (65-33 Harris)

Former Rep. Colin Allred leads incumbent Julie Johnson 45-34 with an estimated 74% tabulated, but the AP has not yet projected whether there will be a runoff for this Dallas-based seat.

TX-34 (R) (55-44 Trump)

Army veteran Eric Flores, who had the united backing of the GOP establishment, easily beat former Rep. Mayra Flores 57-24 for the right to take on Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzales this fall. Republicans pushed this South Texas constituency to the right in their new gerrymander, but the party’s falling fortunes with Latino voters likely make this district more competitive than the most recent presidential numbers might indicate.

TX-35 (R & D) (55-44 Trump)

A proxy battle between Trump and Abbott in this newly gerrymandered district in the San Antonio area won’t get resolved until a May runoff.

That contest will feature state Rep. John Lujan, who has Abbott’s backing, and the Trump-endorsed Carlos De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran and brother of Rep. Monica De La Cruz, who serves the neighboring 15th District. Lujan leads 33-27, with Navy veteran Jay Furman far back with 13%.

The Democratic runoff pits therapist Maureen Galindo against Johnny Garcia, who is a Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy. Galindo leads 29-27, with a third contender taking 23%.

TX-38 (R) (60-39 Trump)

Mortgage broker Jon Bonck, who has Trump’s backing, is certain to take first place, but the AP has not yet projected if he will face a runoff in this open seat around Houston.

With 86% of the estimated vote in, Bonck leads with 47%. Former FAA official Shelly deZevallos holds a 19-11 advantage over local school board member ​​Michael Pratt for second place.

TX-AG (R & D) (56-42 Trump)

Despite leading in every public poll, Freedom Caucus ​​Rep. Chip Roy now finds himself limping into a runoff in second place, trailing state Sen. Mayes Middleton as they vie to replace Paxton. Middleton leads Roy 39-32, with state Sen. Joan Huffman and former U.S. Department of Justice official Aaron Reitz taking 15% and 14%, respectively.

State Sen. Nathan Johnson has secured a spot in the Democratic primary runoff, but he doesn’t yet know who he’ll face. With 89% of the estimated vote in, Johnson leads with 48% as former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski holds a 27-25 edge over former federal prosecutor Tony Box.

Bexar County Judge (D) (54-44 Harris)

Former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg ousted incumbent Peter Sakai in a 62-38 landslide in the Democratic primary for county judge, a post that in Texas is executive rather than judicial. Nirenberg will face Patrick Von Dohlen, who had no opposition on the GOP side.

Harris County Judge (D & R) (52-46 Harris)

Both parties appear to be in for runoffs for the powerful post that Democratic incumbent Lina Hidalgo is not seeking reelection to.

On the Democratic side, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker leads former Houston City Councilwoman Letitia Plummer 47-37 with just over 300,000 votes tabulated.

In the GOP primary, former County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez is in first place with 26% with about 175,000 ballots counted. The contest for second place is unresolved: Air Force veteran Warren Howell holds a tiny 20.9 to 20.7 edge over Marty Lancton, who leads the Houston firefighters union and has Abbott’s endorsement.

Special Elections

Arkansas Democrat Alex Holladay flipped a Republican seat in the state House near Little Rock on Tuesday night, which we covered in detail in a breaking news alert we sent to readers as soon as it happened.

Elsewhere, in rural Arkansas, Republican businessman Brad Simon handily defeated independent Adam Watson in a race for the state Senate that did not feature a Democrat.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Democratic state Rep. Vanna Howard comfortably held a state Senate seat for her party.

Senate

IL-Sen

With new polling suggesting a tightening race in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ open U.S. Senate seat, backers of the one-time frontrunner, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, are airing ads seeking to undermine his chief rival, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton—and boost another contender at her expense.

A survey released on Tuesday by Stratton’s allies at the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association is the first ever to show her in front. The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, gives her a 33-30 edge, with the third notable candidate in the contest, Rep. Robin Kelly, far behind at 11. Late last month, PPP had Krishnamoorthi ahead 29-27, while all prior surveys had shown him with larger leads.

Kelly’s weak standing in the polls and her comparative lack of resources make her an unlikely threat to win the primary, which is now just two weeks away, but Krishnamoorthi’s allies still think she can have an impact.

A digital version of a new ad from the Impact Fund, a pro-Krishnamoorthi super PAC, attacks Stratton for allegedly taking “tens of thousands from MAGA donors” and getting “boosted by a group with a six-figure donation from the Broadview ICE contractor.” The spot then moves on to tout Krishnamoorthi—and Kelly.

“Instead, voters trust Robin Kelly and Raja Krishnamoorthi for fighting to take dark money out of politics so working families can come first,” says the narrator, as photos of both are shown on screen.

According to filings with the FEC, the Impact Fund is spending $750,000 on this foray, which was first noted by Punchbowl’s Ally Mutnick.

NE-Sen

Two Democrats and two members of the Legal Marijuana Now Party entered Nebraska’s Senate race ahead of Monday’s candidate filing deadline, raising questions about whether independent Dan Osborn will get the chance for a one-on-one faceoff against Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts in November.

Last cycle, Osborn, a mechanic and former union leader, lost to the state’s other Republican senator, Deb Fischer, by a 53-47 margin, but he ran far ahead of Democrats on the statewide ticket. He was able to come so close in large part because there were no other challengers on the ballot: No Democrats ran, and a candidate friendly to Osborn won the marijuana party’s primary only to drop out and endorse him.

A similar situation could play out with both the Democrats and the Legal Marijuana Now Party once again when both parties hold their primaries on May 12.

Immediately after the filing deadline passed, Osborn issued a statement attacking one of the candidates in the Democratic primary, pastor Bill Forbes, as a Ricketts “stooge” and noted that he’s an outspoken anti-abortion activist.

In 2022, Forbes led an effort to pass an abortion ban in his 500-person hometown of Paxton, even though, as the Flatwater Free Press noted, the closest abortion provider was more than 200 miles away—in Denver, Colorado. The ban wound up passing by just eight votes.

The other Democrat, Cindy Burbank, echoes Osborn’s language on her minimalist campaign website and is making her intentions plain.

“Dan Osborn is a good man, a working man, a strike leader, and someone we can trust. He deserves a fair shot against Ricketts,” the site reads. “So vote for me – and I’ll support Dan Osborn and make sure we send Billionaire Pete Ricketts PACKING!”

As for the Legal Marijuana Party, it dubbed one candidate who filed to run under its banner, former union official Mike Marvin, a “Dan Osborn Plant” on its Facebook page. In a reply, Marvin denied the accusation and said he had “never met or spoken with” Osborn.

The other candidate, Earl Starkey, used the same “plant” language to describe Marvin. In a recent video, Starkey also called both Osborn and Ricketts “pedophile supporters, or whatever you want to call it.”

Governors

CA-Gov

Republican Jon Slavet announced Tuesday that he was ending his campaign for California’s open governorship, a decision that came three months after he said he’d self-fund “what it takes to be competitive.”

Slavet exited the June top-two primary on the same day that state Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks released an open letter imploring his party’s candidates to consider doing the same thing to prevent two Republicans from advancing to the general election. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Jodi Hicks, who runs California’s Planned Parenthood affiliates, issued the same call later that day.

Hicks argued that, while there was a “relatively low” chance of such a nightmare scenario, any Democrat who doesn’t “have a viable path” to advance to the second round shouldn’t file ahead of Friday’s deadline. He further advised that anyone who does place their name on the ballot should drop out by April 15 if they fail to “show meaningful progress.”

Hicks, who does not have the power to keep anyone from running, did not identify any specific candidates he believes should leave the race. Neither did Rivas or Hicks, though the speaker wrote, “With respect, they know who they are.”

While a top-two lockout is not impossible, a recent analysis from The Downballot explained why it remains unlikely.

TN-Gov

Retired astronaut Butch Wilmore unexpectedly filed paperwork last week for a potential campaign for the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s open governorship, the Nashville Banner reports.

Wilmore attracted international attention in 2024 when he and fellow astronaut Suni Williams were stranded on the International Space Station for nine months after the Boeing spacecraft that brought them there was judged unsafe to return them home. He had not, however, previously shown any obvious interest in running for governor.

Wilmore remained tight-lipped even after turning in paperwork on Thursday. His filing went unreported until this week, and he did not return the Banner’s inquiries. His status will be clear soon enough, though, as he only has until March 10 to turn in 25 signatures.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn is currently the frontrunner against Rep. John Rose in the Aug. 6 Republican primary. The eventual GOP nominee should have little trouble succeeding Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who is termed out, in this dark red state.

House

CA-17

Businessman Ethan Agarwal announced Tuesday that he would challenge Rep. Ro Khanna, a fellow Democrat, in California’s safely blue 17th District.

Khanna alienated several of former allies in the Silicon Valley business community earlier this year by calling for a special state tax on billionaires, an issue that Agarwal tells Bloomberg News was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Agarwal, who was waging a little-noticed run for governor before he switched races, now has less than three months to organize a congressional campaign before the June 2 top-two primary. He did bring along some well-heeled allies on the first day of his new effort, though, with prominent donors Ron Conway and Garry Tan tweeting their support.

Khanna, for his part, ended last year with more than $15 million in the bank to defend himself in the 17th, which includes part of San Jose and nearby communities like Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.

CO-03

Army veteran Dwayne Romero announced Tuesday that he would seek the Democratic nomination to take on Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd, whom Donald Trump recently called for Republican primary voters to dump in favor of a far-right alternative.

Romero joins Alex Kelloff, a private equity investor who launched his campaign last spring, in the June 30 primary for the 3rd Congressional District.

Romero, who runs a real estate management company, has connections in both state and local politics. The new candidate was part of then-Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration as director of economic development before serving on Aspen’s City Council and Board of Education.

The 3rd District, which includes the Pueblo area and the Western Slope of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, has been in GOP hands since the 2010 Republican wave, and Trump’s 54-44 victory here in 2024 gave Hurd reason to feel good about his reelection prospects.

Trump, though, upended the incumbent’s campaign last month when he announced he was yanking his endorsement to punish him for supporting a bill aimed at rolling back tariffs Trump imposed on Canada. Trump is now backing Hope Scheppelman, a former official with the state GOP who last year blasted Hurd as “just another liberal elitist.”

GA-11

Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore filed paperwork with Georgia election officials on Tuesday for a possible campaign to replace Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a fellow Republican who is not seeking a seventh term in the safely red 11th Congressional District.

Pridemore, who took third place against Loudermilk in the 2014 primary, placed her name on the ballot shortly after learning she won’t need to go up against a well-connected Republican. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the same morning that U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach had decided not run ahead of Friday’s candidate filing deadline.

MT-01

Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced Tuesday that she would run to replace Rep. Ryan Zinke, a fellow Republican who abruptly ended his campaign for reelection the previous day.

Donald Trump, however, endorsed Aaron Flint, a conservative radio host who announced his campaign almost immediately after Zinke said he wouldn’t seek another term in the 1st Congressional District. Flint already had the support of Zinke, Gov. Greg Gianforte, and other prominent Montana Republicans.

NV-02

Army veteran Sam Brown announced Tuesday that he would not enter the Republican primary for Nevada’s conservative 2nd Congressional District, a contest he likely would have been favored to win.

Other potentially interested Republicans had largely been in a holding pattern as they waited on Brown, whom the Nevada Independent said would have been Donald Trump’s choice to replace retiring GOP Rep. Mark Amodei. Now, though, they have just over a week to decide before the March 13 filing deadline.

Former state Senate Minority Leader James Settelmeyer didn’t rule out running last month, and he quickly found himself the subject of speculation after Brown begged off. One would-be candidate, Nevada Trucking Association CEO Paul Enos, told the Indy he wouldn’t oppose Settelmeyer.

State Controller Andy Matthews, meanwhile, told the site Tuesday he was “considering” running himself. A representative for Air Force veteran Tony Grady, however, informed the Indy that he wouldn’t make the race.

Wealthy surgeon Fred Simon and former Eureka County Sheriff Jesse Watts didn’t wait on Brown to launch campaigns of their own, though neither has generated much attention so far.

Ballot Measures

OR Ballot

Oregon’s Democratic-led legislature approved a bill Tuesday setting a May 19 date for a referendum that could partially repeal a new transportation funding plan. Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek quickly signed the legislation that moved the vote from Nov. 3, when she’ll be up for reelection, to instead coincide with the statewide primary.

Morning Digest, sponsored by Grassroots Analytics: GOP-backed referendum puts Oregon's new transportation funding plan at risk

Conservatives, who collected the signatures to place the referendum on the ballot, have promised to sue to require the vote take place this fall as they intended.

Republicans, who staged a one-day walkout in the state Senate last month, have pointed to a memo from Democratic Secretary of State Tobias Read that “recommended” lawmakers take action by Feb. 25.

Read highlighted a state law that allows organizers to place a statement about referendums on the pamphlet that goes out to voters if they pay $1,200 or gather 500 signatures.

“Every day that passes makes it more challenging for my office to provide Oregonians with a free alternative to paying a $1,200 fee,” Read wrote.

Democrats, though, say the recommendation doesn’t preclude them from holding the vote in May. They also argue that voters should decide on the future of the funding plan before November so that local governments can make decisions about how to fund transportation projects.