UNITED STATES (Diya TV) — The 2026 midterm primary season kicked off Tuesday (March 3) across Texas, North Carolina, and Arkansas, and it immediately produced marquee statewide fights, runoff setups, and a handful of down-ballot races that turned into real nail-biters.

Breaking: the night’s biggest storylines

  • TEXAS (U.S. Senate): Democrat James Talarico won his party’s nomination, while Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton are headed to a May 26 runoff after neither cleared 50%.

  • TEXAS (Harris County Judge): Both parties’ primaries for the seat to succeed Lina Hidalgo are going to runoffs, with Annise Parker leading Democrats and a crowded GOP field splitting into a runoff led by Orlando Sanchez and Warren A. Howell.

  • TEXAS (Fort Bend County Judge): Republican Daniel Wong won outright, and a separate Fort Bend story line was the collapse of incumbent KP George in that GOP primary.

  • NORTH CAROLINA (U.S. Senate): Results set up the expected November matchup: Roy Cooper (D) vs Michael Whatley (R) for an open seat.

  • NORTH CAROLINA (NC-4): One of the night’s tightest South Asian–relevant contests ended with Valerie Foushee holding off Nida Allam, who conceded.

  • ARKANSAS: Sen. Tom Cotton advanced in the Senate primary; Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders advanced as expected.

TEXAS

Major news and what’s next

Texas dominated the national attention because it paired a blockbuster Senate contest with a long list of consequential county and congressional fights, many of which are now headed to May 26 runoffs.

On the Republican Senate side, Cornyn and Paxton will go to a runoff, with Cornyn at 42.5% and Paxton at 40.8% in the Ballotpedia-reported totals (with a third candidate splitting the remaining vote).
On the Democratic Senate side, Talarico defeated Jasmine Crockett.

Down ballot, Houston’s primaries featured at least one headline upset (including a major incumbent loss in the Houston region) and multiple crowded races that set up bruising overtime.

South Asian candidates in Texas

Harris County (Houston area)

Nasir Malik (D) — Harris County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Place 2
Malik ran in the Democratic primary against Sean Simon and lost, with Simon finishing ahead 56.20% to 43.80% in the county’s cumulative unofficial report.
In prior coverage, Malik framed the race around public trust, court accessibility, and day-to-day justice-court impacts in immigrant communities.

Aliza Dutt (R) — Harris County Judge (Republican primary)
Dutt ran in a six-candidate GOP primary and did not advance to the runoff, finishing behind the top two. The Harris County cumulative report shows Orlando Sanchez (26.46%) and Warren A. Howell (20.79%) advancing, with Dutt at 18.64%.
That GOP runoff is now the party’s fight over who gets the general-election shot at the county’s top job.

Fort Bend County (Houston suburbs)

Eddie Sajjad (D) — Fort Bend County Judge (Democratic primary)
Sajjad ran in a five-candidate field and finished fifth, with 8% of the vote in the published county results table; Dexter McCoy and Rachelle Carter advanced toward a runoff path.
This race matters because Fort Bend is one of the state’s fastest-growing counties, and the judge role drives budget, emergency management, and commissioners court leadership.

Shah (Salah) Haleem (D) — Fort Bend County Clerk (Democratic primary)
Haleem ran against Sonya Jones, Maria Jackson, and Montreal Peterson and did not advance, finishing at 21% in the results table.
The top two (Jones and Jackson) moved forward in a contest that will shape who oversees key county records and election-related administrative functions.

Sara Khan (D) — Fort Bend County Treasurer (Democratic primary)
Khan finished second (32%) and advanced to a runoff against Jeffrey Boney (35%), per the results table.
She emerged as one of the night’s stronger South Asian performers locally, converting a crowded field into a clear top-two finish.

Rahim Rupani (D) — Fort Bend County Treasurer (Democratic primary)
Rupani ran in the same five-candidate contest and did not advance, finishing at 12% in the results table.
The field’s consolidation into a Boney-vs-Khan runoff effectively ended his path in this cycle.

Muzaffar Vohra (D) — Fort Bend County District Clerk (Democratic primary)
Vohra challenged incumbent Beverley McGrew Walker (alongside Iris R. Lewis) and lost, as unofficial results showed Walker clearing the threshold with 62.44%.
In a candidate questionnaire, Vohra described his background as a law graduate/nonprofit executive and emphasized integrity, efficiency, and accountability in the clerk’s office.

Haroon Mughal (D) — Fort Bend County Commissioner, Precinct 4 (Democratic primary)
Mughal was one of a large field of candidates in the open-seat race (with multiple names listed on Ballotpedia) and did not reach the runoff, as the runoff slots went to Brittanye Morris and April Jones in a razor-thin margin scenario.
His run still stood out as part of a broader trend: South Asian candidates increasingly contesting suburban county governance seats, not just state/federal offices.

Ramesh Kumar Cherivirala (R) — Fort Bend County Commissioner, Precinct 4 (Republican primary)
Cherivirala finished third (19.71%) and did not advance, with the runoff moving to Ken Mathews and Adam Schoof.
It was a meaningful showing in a four-candidate GOP contest, but not enough to crack the top two.

Mathew Vairamon (R) — Fort Bend Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 (Republican primary)
Vairamon was in a three-candidate race and lost, with William Ferguson winning outright.
That ends Vairamon’s path to the general election ballot for this seat.

Asha Reddi (R) — Fort Bend District Judge, 240th Judicial District (Republican primary)
Reddi won her GOP primary, defeating Frank Fraley with 57% (per the published results recap).
It’s one of the clearest South Asian wins in the Houston-suburbs results set.

Suleman Lalani (D) — Texas House District 76 (Democratic primary)
Lalani won his Democratic primary, defeating Marie Asher Baptiste with 55.65%.
His win reinforces the durability of South Asian incumbency in key suburban districts.

Juli Mathew (D) — Fort Bend County Court at Law No. 3 (Democratic primary)
Mathew was on the ballot in a Democratic primary against Paula Miller (with Jessica Jaramillo on the Republican side), but at the time of review Ballotpedia still listed this contest without a called Democratic outcome in its rollup tables.
If you want, I can format this section as “results pending / to be updated” in the published piece until the official canvass posts a final, non-JS report.

NORTH CAROLINA

Major news from the state

North Carolina locked in the general-election Senate matchup many expected: Roy Cooper vs Michael Whatley, a contest that instantly becomes one of the country’s most competitive Senate races.

South Asian candidates in North Carolina

Nida Allam (D) — U.S. House, North Carolina’s 4th District (Democratic primary)
Allam challenged incumbent Valerie Foushee in a rematch and conceded, with reporting noting the margin was extremely tight and within recount territory even as she chose not to pursue that route.
Allam’s campaign drew attention statewide as a high-profile progressive run by a Durham County commissioner with deep roots in the Triangle’s South Asian community.

ARKANSAS

Major news from the state

In Arkansas, Sen. Tom Cotton advanced in the Senate primary, consistent with pre-election expectations, as the state’s marquee federal race moved toward the general election track.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders also advanced on the Republican side, and early coverage characterized the statewide outcomes as largely straightforward.

ROUNDUP: March 3 primaries in Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas