Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy , and give us feedback .

As he weighed a bid for the U.S. Senate earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro found himself at an impasse with three other big-name Democrats who also wanted to run for the upper chamber.

At the time, Castro met over Zoom with the other then-prospective candidates — former U.S. Reps. Colin Allred and Beto O’Rourke and state Rep. James Talarico — to try to hash out their plans for 2026. Castro eventually offered to run for Texas attorney general if the others could divide up the remaining statewide offices, including governor and lieutenant governor, instead of running against each other for Senate. In the end, Castro said Friday, “we just couldn’t ge

See Full Page