Two Primaries, One Ballot: How the 2026 Texas Republican and Democratic Races Compare

Disclosure: This analysis was researched and written with the assistance of Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding assistant. All candidate information was sourced from public reporting, campaign websites, editorial board interviews, and polling data. The persuasion scoring reflects the author’s editorial judgment applied through an AI-assisted workflow. Voters should verify claims independently before casting a ballot. I just finished scoring every candidate in every contested race on both the Republican and Democratic primary ballots for Dallas County. Same methodology for both: two independent 1–10 scales measuring how much each candidate relies on facts/data versus feelings/emotions. Now that both ballots are done, patterns jump out. The two primaries are operating in different universes — different emotional registers, different power dynamics, different relationships with money. Here’s what I found. ...

February 12, 2026 · 10 min

Facts vs Feelings: A Data-Driven Guide to the 2026 Texas Democratic Primary

Disclosure: This analysis was researched and written with the assistance of Claude Code, Anthropic’s AI coding assistant. All candidate information was sourced from public reporting, campaign websites, editorial board interviews, and polling data. The persuasion scoring reflects the author’s editorial judgment applied through an AI-assisted workflow. Voters should verify claims independently before casting a ballot. The March 3, 2026 Texas Democratic Primary ballot for Dallas County is enormous — 31 contested races spanning federal, state, and local offices. I went through my sample ballot (Precinct 12), researched every candidate in every contested race, and scored them on how much they rely on facts and data versus feelings and emotions to make their case. Same methodology as the Republican guide: two independent 1–10 scales. A candidate can score high on both, low on both, or anywhere in between. Judicial races tend to cluster low on emotion, which is appropriate — you probably don’t want a judge who campaigns on rage. One important context note: Democrats haven’t won statewide in Texas since 1994. The primary winner in most Dallas County local races is effectively the general election winner, but every statewide nominee faces long odds in November. ...

February 12, 2026 · 17 min